Nanofat Treatment

Description
Nanofat, which is derived from one's own adipose tissue, has potential in regenerative medicine to improve skin texture, quality, discolorations and overall skin appearance.

Unlike fat transfer, in which whole living adipocytes (fat cells) are grafted in an effort to enhance or restore facial volume, Nanofat treatment uses ultra-purified adipose tissue-derived tissue that is devoid of intact adipocytes. The goal of treatment is to improve age-related skin conditions by harnessing the biological and chemical mediators contained within fat cells.

The Aging Process
As part of the normal aging process, the face undergoes multiple changes concurrently including the development of fine lines and wrinkles, skin textural irregularities, skin discolorations, and the loss of skin elasticity and collagen.

Candidates for Nanofat
You may be a candidate for Nanofat treatment if you are concerned about the appearance of those age-related skin changes noted above.

Nanofat Procedure
Nanofat injection entails using your own fat cells, which are harvested, then emulsified and processed in order to retrieve the adipocyte (fat cell) containing growth factors, cytokines and biological peptides.

During your consultation, a donor site for fat harvest is selected. Depending on the individual, fat may be transferred from the abdomen, buttocks, or thighs. The fat is gently retrieved from the donor site using fine cannulas. The fat is then emulsified and processed prior to transfer to the face. The technique uses strategically-placed tiny incision sites (less than 2 mm) to transfer nanofat to targeted facial areas of interest.

Targets of Treatment

• skin rejuvenation including improved skin texture and fine lines and wrinkles
• improvement in discolorations
• reduction of of dark circles around eyes
• reduction of atrophic scars
• in rhinoplasty, nanofat is being used to correct slight skin irregularities which do not require cartilage grafting

Mechanism of Treatment Benefit

Adipose tissue is a compact and well-organized tissue containing a heterogeneous cellular population of progenitor cells, including mesenchymal stromal cells. Due to its availability and accessibility, adipose tissue is considered a “stem cell depot.” Adipose tissue products possess anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic, anti-apoptotic, and immunomodulatory effects.

Adipose tissue extracts such as Nanofat contain various pockets of growth factors, cytokines, adipokines, and transcriptional factors which altogether form secretomes. These acellular secretomes possess more biological activity than whole adipocytes. The products of adipose tissues include microfat, nanofat, microvascular fragments (MVFs), the stromal vascular fraction (SVF), adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs), secretomes, and exosomes.

Nanofat is an ultra-purified adipose tissue-derived product that is devoid of mature adipocytes but contains CD34+ rich ASCs, microvascular fragments [fragments of arterioles, venules, and capillaries as they are identified by immunohistochemical staining for CD31 and a-SMA], growth factors [vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-ß), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF)], biological peptides [lipoxins, resolvins, protectins, neurotrophic factors, angiogenin, matrix metalloproteinase 9, leukemia inhibitory factor, and macrophage migration inhibitory factor], and cytokines [BMP-2 and -4, IL-1RA, -4, -8, -10, -11, and -13].

Complementary Procedures
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) may be combined with the Nanofat injection to improve results. PRP treatment uses your own blood plasma that has been enriched with platelets. As a concentrated source of your own platelets, PRP contains several different growth factors and other cytokines that can stimulate healing of soft tissue.

Recovery after Nanofat
Following Nanofat injection, you may expect a few days of swelling and soreness which is well-controlled with oral pain medications. Fat is insterted through needle-size skin punctures, which heal without sutures. Makeup can be used to camouflage any bruising. Swelling and bruising generally subside by 1-2 weeks. You can resume most normal activities after a couple of days, except for intense exercise, which may be resumed at about 1 week. Most people are able to return to work by 1 week.

Reference
Jeyaraman M et al. Nanofat: A therapeutic paradigm in regenerative medicine. World J Stem Cells 2021 November 26; 13(11): 1733-1746