Intralesional injection of adipose-derived stem cells reduces hypertrophic scarring in a rabbit ear model.

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)

Redundant collagen deposition at sites of healing dermal wounds results in hypertrophic scars. Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) exhibit promise in a variety of anti-fibrosis applications by attenuating collagen deposition. The objective of this study was to explore the influence of an intralesional injection of ADSCs on hypertrophic scar formation by using an established rabbit ear model. Twelve New Zealand albino rabbits were equally divided into three groups, and six identical punch defects were made on each ear. On postoperative day 14 when all wounds were completely re-epithelialized, the first group received an intralesional injection of ADSCs on their right ears and Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) on their left ears as an internal control. Rabbits in the second group were injected with conditioned medium of the ADSCs (ADSCs-CM) on their right ears and DMEM on their left ears as an internal control. Right ears of the third group remained untreated, and left ears received DMEM. We quantified scar hypertrophy by measuring the scar elevation index (SEI) on postoperative days 14, 21, 28, and 35 with ultrasonography. Wounds were harvested 35 days later for histomorphometric and gene expression analysis. Intralesional injections of ADSCs or ADSCs-CM both led to scars with a far more normal appearance and significantly decreased SEI (44.04 % and 32.48 %, respectively,

Evidence level

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

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