In recent years, the use of adipose tissue and the adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction (SVF) has come to the forefront of novel therapeutic and aesthetic medicine. However, access to these new procedures and treatments for patients living in South Africa has been limited. In addition, the storage of these biological products for reuse in the future has been unavailable altogether. We at Netcells are happy to announce the launch of Adipose Tissue Banking, a service to meet all of these needs. Leveraging our laboratory expertise and stem cell storage facilities, Netcells adipose tissue banking aims to provide health care practitioners and patients with a means to produce and store their adipose derived stem cells in the form of SVF or store their adipose tissue as whole fat. These samples will be securely stored at our facilities until they are needed in the future.
The stromal vascular fraction (SVF) refers to a mixture of specialized cells that can be separated from adipose tissue after collection by liposuction to be stored and used separately. In order to get an optimal quality SVF product, we request that a minimum of 100mls of fat be provided. The fat is then transported to our labs and processed by our specialists into SVF within 24 hours of liposuction. Once isolated, the SVF product is mixed with a specialized cryoprotectant and stored in the vapor phase of liquid nitrogen, at -180oC where it can be kept for many decades. In addition to the flexibility of use that comes with long term storage, we also provide a detailed cell count for each sample produced. This ensures that doctors and patients have the peace of mind to know that they are receiving a cellular product that is of the highest quality possible.
Adipose derived SVF contains a number of cell types including mesenchymal and hematopoietic stem cells3, both of which have been shown to be powerful tools in both aesthetic and therapeutic medicine. In the therapeutic arena, the use of SVF has been shown to have potential to treat a variety of illnesses, including a range of autoimmune6 and orthopedic5 diseases and disorders. In aesthetics, SVF has also shown a number of promising uses, including boosting the retention of fat grafts4 and promoting skin and tissue rejuvenation1. The uses for SVF will continue to grow as further clinical trials are completed, and we are excited to be at the forefront of this novel technology.
In addition to SVF, Netcells will be providing the storage of whole fat. Whole fat is the extracted adipose tissue in its natural form, which has been used in autologous (self) transplantation for aesthetic treatments for a number of decades2. Netcells Adipose can now offer the patient the ability to store this whole fat tissue for a number of years. After liposuction, fat samples can be sent to the Netcells laboratory for cleaning, followed by long term storage in liquid nitrogen. The storage of whole fat gives patients and doctors the flexibility, to schedule procedures as they are needed, without the need for follow up-liposuctions.
Netcells is excited to be the first in South Africa offering adipose stem cell and adipose tissue storage to health care practitioners in the Gauteng province, and soon country wide. We hope that it will allow patients all over the country a new avenue of treatment and self-improvement options, allowing them to take advantage of the cutting edge of medical science.
References
- Amirkhani, M., Shoae-Hassani, A., Soleimani, M., Hejazi, S., Ghalichi, L., & Nilforoushzadeh , M. (2016). Rejuvenation of facial skin and improvement in the dermal architecture by transplantation of autologous stromal vascular fraction: a clinical study. BioImpacts, 149–154.
- Bellin, E., Grieco, M., & Raposio, E. (2017). The science behind autologous fat grafting. Annals of Medicine and Surgery, 65-73.
- Kilinic, M., Santidrian, A., Minev, I., Toth, R., Draganov, D., Nguyen, D., Szalay, A. (2018). The ratio of ADSCs to HSC-progenitors in adipose tissue derived SVF may provide the key to predict the outcome of stem-cell therapy. Clinical Translational Medicine, 5.
- Moustaki, M., Papadopoulos, O., Verikokos, C., Karypidis, D., Masud, D., Kostakis, A., Perrea, D. (2017). Application of adipose-derived stromal cells in fat grafting: Basic science and literature review. Experimental and Theraputic Medicine, 2415–2423.
- Pak, J., Yung, L., Park, K., Park, M., Kang, L.-w., & Lee, S. (2017). Current use of autologous adipose tissue-derived stromal vascular fraction cells for orthopedic applications. Journal of Biomedical Science, 9.
- Semon, J., Zhang, X., Pandey, A., Alandete, S., Maness, C., Zhang, S., Bunnell, B. (2013). Administration of Murine Stromal Vascular Fraction Ameliorates Chronic Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis. Stem Cells Translational Medicine, 789–796.
