Quick blog, because frankly this is true in the lab science stuff. “Quality and Quantity Cultured Human Mononuclear Cells Improve Human Fat Graft Vascularization and Survival in an In Vivo Murine Experimental Model.” This was in Feb 2021 Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal.
I love fat and fat grafting, and am always trying to improve fat survival. When I move fat from your love handle to your face, anything I can do to improve the fat survival in the new place is good. And the way to get the fat to survive after we transfer it is for it to get a new blood supply. The fancy word for this is vascularization.
This study looked in mice at how to improve vascularization by taking blood, centrifuging it twice and mixing it with different things, to get “human mononuclear cells” MNC-QQ. They theorized adding this would improve fat grafting survival and decrease tissue loss.
Findings?
When they added the MNC-QQ they found:
- more functional endothelial progenitor cells
- weight persistence after 7 weeks was significantly higher than control. (ie more fat survival)
- highest vessel density.
- direct vasculogenic effect through vascular integration
So?
Great study. The centrifuging times were 10 and 30 minutes, it involves removing blood and mixing it with agents, and it seems to work. Figuring out how to translate this from mice in the lab to real practice in my office is the kicker here. I see many of these studies which don’t translate into my clinical practice. Yet.