Dermal Filler: Cultured autologous human fibroblasts (Isolagen)

Generic name: Cultured autologous human fibroblasts

Brand(s): Isolagen

Maker / Website: Isolagen, Inc. (www.isolagen.com)

Cost: $5500 - $7500 depending on the area treated

Allergy test required: No

Durability: Potentially very long if injected fibroblasts survive, properly integrate in the treated area and begin producing collagen. But there may be considerable variation.

Function / Purpose:
Treatment of deep folds and lines (e.g. smile lines, frown lines), wrinkles and pitted scars. May also be used for lip augmentation.

Summary:
Isolagen consists of autologous (i.e. derived from your own tissue) fibroblasts grown in the laboratory, collected and prepared for injection back into your body in the area of skin defects. Since isolagen consists of your own cells, it does not get rejected by your immune system. When injected, many fibroblasts are likely to survive, integrate in the treated area and begin producing collagen and other skin matrix components. Such approach may provide high degree of safety and durability but is very expensive.

Contraindications:
Allergies to local anesthetics

Details:
One of the main drawbacks of collagen injections is that injected collagen is gradually broken up by the proteolytic enzimes and can only be replenished by more injections. Isolagen overcomes this problem because it consists mainly of your own collagen-producing cells (fibroblasts) rather than just collagen. If the injected fibroblasts take hold in the treated area of your skin, they can keep producing collagen for a long time.

To avoid the immunological problem of rejection, Isolagen is made from your own fibroblasts. A small amount of your fibroblasts (from a small skin sample) is collected, grown in tissues culture and then prepared for injection back into your body. It can be used to treat wrinkles, folds, pitted scars and similar lesions. In theory, such approach should provide lasting results without the need to continuously repeat the treatments. On the other hand, this process is far more expensive than conventional collagen injections. Since isolagen is still relatively new, it may take a while before we know its typical durability as well as variability of results among individuals.