3: Vitamin D Improves Autologous Fat Graft Retention

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Purpose: Autologous fat grafting is a widely used technique in aesthetic and reconstructive surgery, however, unpredictable volume reabsorption may lead to unsatisfactory outcomes. Previously, we demonstrated that a fat-soluble Vitamin D3 analogue, calcitriol, significantly improved fat retention in a xenograft mouse model by 25% across multiple donors when injected systemically (p Methods: Lipoaspirate was harvested from 6 unique donors using a 2mm cannula and used in parallel for both in vitro and in vivo studies. In vivo: 0.3mL of lipoaspirate was injected bilaterally on dorsal flanks of homozygous Foxn1nu immunocompromised mice. Calcitriol (50ng), cholecalciferol (50ng, 500ng, 5000ng) or vehicle control was administered thrice weekly by IP injection. Graft volume retention was measured at 12 weeks. In vitro: 1mL of lipoaspirate was submerged in phenol-red free DMEM (10% FBS) containing calcitriol or cholecalciferol (15.6nM, 62.5 nM or 250 nM) for 7 days with one media change. Terminal analyses include tissue weight, stromal cell viability, concentration of active vitamin D metabolite (1,25(OH)2D3), and gene upregulation by qRT-PCR. Results: Previously, we demonstrated that systemic administration of 50ng calcitriol thrice weekly significantly improved human fat graft retention across multiple donors in a mouse xenograft model. Our current in vivo data suggest 5000ng choleca

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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