The Use of Fibroblasts for Ameliorating Structural Changes Associated with Skin Aging.

Various causes underlie the structural changes associated with skin aging. To treat these problems, surgical or nonsurgical approaches are available. One of the nonsurgical approaches-regeneration therapy-has become the focus of research and clinical applications. In an earlier clinical study, we injected fibroblasts into the nasolabial region and lips to counter the structural changes associated with skin aging. Assessments performed 12 months after the first injection showed mostly adequate satisfaction scores. However, objective evaluation had not been performed. In the present clinical study, we injected autologous gingival fibroblasts into the nasolabial region and performed objective evaluation using a high-resolution digital camera system 12 months after the first injection. Objective evaluation showed significant improvement in moisture and grain. Subjective evaluation also demonstrated mostly satisfactory results 12 months after the first injection. According to our present results, autologous gingival fibroblast injection might be capable of ameliorating the structural changes associated with skin aging.