Effect of ASC Injection in the Inflammatory Reaction in Silicone Implant Capsule: Animal Model.

Background: Capsular contracture is a common complication affecting about 80% of patients who receive radiotherapy after breast reconstruction with silicone prostheses. This study examines the use of adipocyte stem cells (ASCs) to treat capsular contracture.
Methods: Thirty rats were operated on to implant a minisilicone prosthesis in the dorsal region. The rats were divided into three groups: control (saline solution injection), radiotherapy (RDT), and RDT + ASC. After 3 months, the capsules were collected and submitted to histological analysis for inflammatory cell presence, vascular density, and collagen fibers, and gene expression of Tnf, Il1rap , Il10 , Cd68 , Mmp3 , and Mmp9 by qPCR.
Results: In macroscopic analysis, the RTGO score showed a two-point reduction in RDT + ASC compared with the RDT ( P = 0.003). In histological analysis, ASC exhibited less than 50% of inflammatory cells compared with RDT ( P = 0.004), which was similar to control. This study demonstrated that Il1rap gene expression was identical in both RDT and RTD + ASC. Compared with control, treatment with ASC reduced Il1rap expression by 30%. Cd68 and Mmp3 expression levels were similar in both the control and RTD + ASC.
Conclusion: This study suggests that ASC treatment decreases silicone prosthesis capsule inflammation.
Competing Interests: The authors have no financial interest to declare in relation to the content of this article. This research was conducted with financial support from the Investigator-Initiated Study Program of Mentor Worldwide, LLC, and from Federal government funding (Luiza Erundina de Souza—protocol 8929494/2019).
(Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of The American Society of Plastic Surgeons.)