Fibrosi epatica nel cane: stato dell'arte e nuove prospettive

Abstract

Fibrosi epatica nel cane, cause, diagnosi, terapia tradizionale, approccio nutrizionale e terapia con staminali mesenchimali (MSCs)

In the context of Small Animal Veterinary Medicine, canine hepatic fibrosis represents an important clinical issue due to its challenging nature. There are several different histological aspects attributable to the various conditions included under the category of chronic hepatitis (CH). A better understanding of the pathological mechanisms underlying hepatic fibrosis could lead to the development of less invasive diagnostic strategies; unfortunately, there is still much to achieve to replace the practice of the histological assessment of liver biopsy specimen, which for years has been considered the gold standard. Conventional therapy seems to provide good results against Copper-associated Liver Diseases, but there is still no standard for Idiopathic Chronic Hepatitis, which represents one of the most common Liver diseases featuring hepatic fibrosis in dogs. The use of anti-fibrotic drugs has been examined in order to establish better results without resorting to a specific therapy, but no satisfactory solutions have been detected so far. The Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) therapeutic potential in preventing and treating hepatic fibrosis has been widely investigated due to the variety of their biological properties. According to some scientific studies performed on dogs as animal models, the administration route might be able to influence the therapeutic outcomes, making more invasive approaches necessary. More studies have to be performed in order to assess the durability of the beneficial effects of MSCs administration for canine hepatic fibrosis treatment