Use of derived adipose stem cells to reduce complications of cutaneous scarring in smokers. An experimental model in rats

PURPOSE: To evaluate the use of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC) in reducing the necrosis area in an experimental model of cutaneous ischemic flap in rats submitted to subcutaneous nicotine injection to simulate a smoker patient. METHODS: In an experimental study, 30 rats were enrolled and divided into two experimental groups of 15 animals all submitted to a subcutaneous nicotine injection to create ischemic cutaneous flaps on their backs. Other 10 animals were used only to obtain adipose tissue derived stem cells (ADSC). The first group (n=15) received ADSC treatment at the end of surgery while the other group, the control (n=15), received no other interventions. After euthanasia, a decal was performed on the whole area of the flap, accurately defining the transition from necrosis to healthy region. Photos of all animals were collected and evaluated by scales standardized by Paint-Autocad- 2015 software to define the area of flap necrosis in each rat. Student T test was performed to compare the groups, considering a p< 0.05 significant. Data were analyzed using SPSS IBM(®) 18 version. RESULTS: Through the analysis of the images by the program Paint-Autocad-2015 and the area of decal obtained by the transparent sheet, we obtained a mean of 46% necrosis of the total area of the flap in the treatment group and 69.4% in the control group. In the descriptive analysis, a mean of 3.7 cm of necrosis CI 95% (3.2 - 4.2) was evident in the treatment group whereas a mean value of 5.56 CI 95% (5.2 - 5.9) was found in control group, with p value <0.001 for this comparison. CONCLUSION: The application of adipose-derived stem cells reduces the percentage of necrosis in an experimental model of randomized cutaneous flap in rats submitted to subcutaneous nicotine injection.