Adipose-derived stem cells: Comparison between two methods of isolation for clinical applications

BACKGROUND Adipose-derived stem cells are recognized as being an effective mesenchymal stem cell population with enormous potential in different fields of regenerative medicine and stem cell therapy. Although there is unanimous agreement on the harvesting procedure for adipose tissue, there are various protocols for adipose-derived stem cell isolation. The aim of this study was compare two methods of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) isolation, one based on a mechanical + enzymatic (ME) procedure and the other one exclusively mechanical (MC), in order to determine which one was superior to the other in accordance with current European and US legislation. METHODS We reported step by step the two different methods ASCs isolation by comparing them. The ME procedure included the use of a centrifuge, an incubator and collagenase digestion solution (Collagenase NB 6 GMP Grade 17458; Serva GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany). The MC procedure was performed by vibrating shaker and centrifuge, both placed in a laminar airflow bench. RESULTS With the ME procedure, a mean of 9.06 × 105 ASCs (range, 8.4 to 9.72 × 105; SD ± 6.6 × 105) was collected, corresponding to 25.9% of the total number of harvested cells. With the MC procedure, a mean of 5 × 105 ASCs (range: 4.0 to 6.0 × 105; SD, ±1 × 105) was collected, corresponding to 5% of the total number of harvested cells. CONCLUSION Based on data collected, from the same amount of lipoaspirate the ME procedure allowed to isolate a greater number of ASCs (25,9%) compared to the MC one (5%).