Chimp receives stem cells 25-year-old chimp received treatments for a torn ...

Photo by Eric Hasert

ERIC HASERT/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS Dr. Darrell Nazareth, of the Florida Veterinary League in Vero Beach (background) injects chimpanzee stem cells with the help of veterinarian Dr. Jocelyn Bezner, of Save the Chimps, into the knee of Angie, a 25-year-old female chimp suffering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, at the Save The Chimps Sanctuary in Fort Pierce. The surgery was performed inside the sanctuary's mobile surgical unit, which involved extraction of fat and blood cells that were transported to the Florida Veterinary League in Vero Beach to extract approximately 2.3 billion stem cells, then returning to the chimp sanctuary to finish the one-day procedure. "It feels wonderful, I can't wait to see the results two to three weeks out," Nazareth said about performing the procedure.

Photo by Eric Hasert

ERIC HASERT/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS Nicole Devlin, a laboratory technician at the Florida Veterinary League in Vero Beach, works on a procedure to remove stem cells from blood and fat removed from Angie, a female chimp at Save The Chimps Sanctuary in Fort Pierce. After the stem cells were isolated, they were transported back to the chimp sanctuary in Fort Pierce to be injected back into Angie.

FORT PIERCE A 25-year-old female chimpanzee at the Save-the-Chimps sanctuary in Fort Pierce may be able to run again, thanks to a revolutionary stem cell treatment performed on Wednesday.

Angie, one of the 271 chimpanzees that live at the 150-acre sanctuary, received the cutting-edge treatment for a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee, thanks to its Florida developer, Stemlogix LLC in Weston, and the Florida Veterinary League in Vero Beach.

The procedure, which normally would cost about $2,000, uses an animal's own fat to obtain adult stem cells, which are then injected into the problem area to stimulate growth of healthy cells.

Save-the-Chimps Veterinarian Dr. Linda Gregard handled the stem cell recovery procedures. Under anesthesia, fat was removed from chimp's abdomen Wednesday morning and transported to Dr. Darrell Nazareth at the Florida Veterinary League. Nazareth then isolated stem and regenerative cells from the fat, suspended them in platelet-rich plasma and transported the stem cells back to the sanctuary for the chimp's treatment.

"Hopefully, it stops the inflammation and encourages the injury to heal," said Nazareth, who has performed a similar treatment on 15 dogs and cats from his practice. He estimates that within two to three weeks, improvement will be seen in both the chimp's mobility and pain level.

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Angie the chimp undergoes revolutionary stem cell treatment