I love fat grafting. This is clear if you follow any of my blogs. In our most recent journal article in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal November 2023, there was an article that is experimental (ie done in the lab) which showed that fat transfer helped protect against skin photoaging. I guess I have missed a few prior studies which proved this (go fat grafting, go!)
“Antiphotoaging Effect of Micronized Fat in Ultraviolet B induced Human Dermal Fibroblasts.”
The study wanted to try to make a standardized application for applying fat as there are many studies showing the effects of adipose derived stromal vascular fraction and mesenchymal stem cells.
Study:
- Micronized fat was used to get the stem cells. NOTE: What I call nanofat on my site is what they are called micronized fat. They used a device that was 4mm with sharp blades to micronize the fat. This method has been shown to preserve the volume of adipose tissue but condense the cells to reach a higher ration of stem cells. They state micronized fat has been demonstrated to rejuvenate skin, promote new blood vessels in the skin, help skin cell proliferation and improve collage density in the dermis in animal experiments.
- They evaluated the stem cell to stromal vascular fraction ration by flow cytometry
- They analyzed the human dermal fibroblasts using staining to look at their morphology and measure the levels of photoaging related factors.
Findings?
- Micronized fat had higher adipose mesenchymal stem cell to SVF ratio than control fat preparations
- UVB induced fibroblasts showed lowered levels of type I collagen and growth factors, and other signs of photoaging.
- Micronized fat showed to reverse these signs of photoaging.
They conclude micronized fat may have better ability to reverse photoaging than general fat grafting.
My thoughts?
I call micronized fat nanofat. I AGREE that this really improves the skin. I use this all the time in my practice of fat grafting, and some of the responses in the skin are amazing. It is great for me to see studies I have missed singing the praises of nanofat.