Improvement of Fat Graft Survival with Autologous Bone Marrow Aspirate and Bone Marrow Concentrate: A One-Step Method

Background: Stem cells have proven to be beneficial to fat graft survival, but a one-step method of cell-assisted lipotransfer is still missing. In the present work, the authors improved the fat graft survival using bone marrow aspirate and bone marrow concentrate, to ensure that both liposuction and cell-assisted lipotransfer were included in the same procedure. Methods: Bone marrow aspirate was collected from the iliac crest of the rabbits. Bone marrow concentrate was obtained using density gradient centrifugation and labeled with PKH26 fluorescent cell linker. Rabbits were divided into three groups: group A, bone marrow aspirate; group B, bone marrow concentrate; and group C, phosphate-buffered saline buffer as a blank control. The implanted mixture contained 1.5 ml of adipose granule and 1 ml of bone marrow aspirate or bone marrow concentrate. The rabbits were subjected to fluorescence imaging in vivo at four time points. Grafts were harvested and analyzed at 4 weeks and 12 weeks after fat grafting. Results: Bone marrow cell fluorescence signals were observed in the rabbits' injection regions during a follow-up of 12 weeks. The fat grafts of group A and B showed a better weight and volume retention, living quality, adipocyte viability, and angiogenesis after transplantation. The results of living tissue imaging also showed that the implanted bone marrow cells could contribute to fat graft survival by multilineage differentiation and could also contribute to adipogenesis and angiogenesis. Conclusion: Both bone marrow aspirate and bone marrow concentrate improved the survival and angiogenesis of grafted fat tissue.