In Vitro Validation of a Closed Device Enabling the Purification of the Fluid Portion of Liposuction Aspirates

BACKGROUND: Adipose tissue harvested through lipoaspiration is widely exploited in plastic and cosmetic surgery, because of its remarkable trophic properties, especially relying on the presence of adipose-derived stem cells. The common procedures for adipose-derived stem cell isolation are mainly based on tissue fractionation and enzymatic digestion, requiring multiple hours of uninterrupted work, unsuitable for direct surgical applications. Recent studies demonstrated the feasibility of isolating adipose stromal cells without the need for enzymatic digestion. These studies reported the processing of the fluid portion of liposuctioned adipose tissue (lipoaspirate fluid), which contains a significant amount of progenitor cells endowed with plastic and trophic features. In this article, the authors introduce a brand new closed device--the MyStem EVO kit--which allows nonenzymatic tissue separation and rapid isolation of lipoaspirate fluid from human liposuctioned adipose tissue. METHODS: Adipose tissue was liposuctioned from 14 donors, split into aliquots, and alternatively processed using either centrifugation or the MyStem EVO kit, to separate fatty and lipoaspirate fluid portions. The samples were analyzed comparatively by flow cytometry, histology, and differentiation assays. Osteoinductive and angioinductive features were analyzed through in vitro co-culture assays. RESULTS: The alternative procedures enabled comparable yields; the kit rapidly isolated lipoaspirate fluid comprising a homogenous cell population with adipose stem cell immunophenotype, bilineage potential, and efficient osteoinductive and angioinductive features. CONCLUSION: MyStem EVO allows the rapid isolation of lipoaspirate fluid with trophic properties within a closed system, and is potentially useful for regenerative medicine applications.