Metabolomic changes in human adipose tissue derived products following non-enzymatic microfacturing

Objective: In this study, we evaluated the metabolomic profiling of cryopreserved Lipogems® tissue products and the initial lipoaspirates before microfracturing, to determine altered metabolites that could result from the non-enzymatic processing or the cryopreservation method.

Materials and Methods: Human Lipoaspirate samples (n=10) were divided in two aliquots, of which one was non-processed and the other was processed by Lipogems® device. Non-processed lipoaspirates and Lipogems® processed tissues were stored at -80°C fresh frozen (N=3 per group) or in the presence of 0.5 M dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) (N=7 per group). A global non-targeted metabolic profile on these samples was performed.

Results: Differences were observed in carbohydrate and nucleotide metabolism. These alterations translated in long chain and polyunsaturated fatty acid levels and amino acid metabolites showed divergent trends. When Lipogems® and Lipoaspirate tissue products were cryopreserved with DMSO, amino acids tended to increase in Lipogems® product. However, in the absence of DMSO aminoacids and their catabolites, tended to decrease in Lipogems® fat tissue product.

Conclusions: Microfractured human adipose tissue has been shown to provide a more effective source of adult stromal cells compared to the initial lipoaspirated tissue material. These could be, according to our findings, due to the changes in the metabolic profile of lipoaspirate tissues products.