Comparison between Stromal Vascular Fraction and Adipose Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Remodeling Hypertrophic Scars

PLoS One. 2016 May 26;11(5):e0156161. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156161. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Hypertrophic scars (HTS) are characterized by excessive amount of collagen deposition and principally occur following burn injuries or surgeries. In absence of effective treatments, the use of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells, which have been shown to attenuate fibrosis in various applications, seems of interest. The objectives of the present study were therefore to evaluate the effect of human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hASC) on a pre-existing HTS in a humanized skin graft model in Nude mice and to compare the efficacy of hASCs versus stromal vascular fraction (SVF). We found that injection of SVF or hASCs resulted in an attenuation of HTS as noticed after clinical evaluation of skin thickness, which was associated with lower total collagen contents in the skins of treated mice and a reduced dermis thickness after histological analysis. Although both SVF and hASCs were able to significantly reduce the clinical and histological parameters of HTS, hASCs appeared to be more efficient than SVF. The therapeutic effect of hASCs was attributed to higher expression of TGFβ3 and HGF, which are important anti-fibrotic mediators, and to higher levels of MMP-2 and MMP-2/TIMP-2 ratio, which reflect the remodelling activity responsible for fibrosis resorption. These results demonstrated the therapeutic potential of hASCs for clinical applications of hypertrophic scarring.

MeSH terms

  • Adipose Tissue / cytology*
  • Animals
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Cicatrix, Hypertrophic / prevention & control*
  • Humans
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / cytology*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Nude
  • Stromal Cells / cytology*
  • Wound Healing / physiology*

Grants and funding

Work in the laboratory Inserm U1183 was supported by the Inserm Institute, the University of Montpellier and funding from the Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire of Montpellier. We also thank the Agence Nationale pour la Recherche for support of the national infrastructure: "ECELLFRANCE: Development of a national adult mesenchymal stem cell based therapy platform" (ANR-11-INSB-005). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.