How it works

Stem cell therapy procedure

Stem cell therapy is delivered through intracavernosal injection.

Fat (20 cc) is collected during a quick and painless outpatient procedure. Bioscience Laboratories receive the collected fat and expand extracted cells within 12 days, obtaining 20 vials of cells that can be used to perform erectile dysfunction treatments and other procedures. Vials that are not immediately utilized can be frozen and cryopreserved for future treatment; cells are preserved for 3 years, during which they can be thawed for additional use.

Injected stem cells migrate to the site of carvernous nerve injury (the major pelvic ganglion), where they could exert neuroregenerative effects that may promote the recovery of erectile function. However, the exact mechanism at the basis of erectile dysfunction stem cell therapy benefits is still unclear. Beside being capable of self-renewal and of differentiating into multiple cell types, mesenchymal stem cells can exert an immunomodulating effect too, and secretion of cytokines and growth factors associated to stem cell transplant decreases inflammation and promotes healing.

Along with cytokines and growth factors, in vitro cultured stem cells produces also chemokines. Together, these and other molecules form the so-called “secretome”. More in depth, the culture medium of stem cells contains several key factors for tissue repair, for example epidermal growth factor, fibroblast growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor AA, endothelial growth factor, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, and interleukins. Moreover, adipose stem cell culture medium promotes dermal fibroblast proliferation and migration, increasing the secretion of type I collagen – the most abundant type of collagen in the body and the key structural component of several tissues.

That is why the mechanism of stem cell therapy is believed to involve the production of molecules including not only growth factors, cytokines, and chemokines, but also microRNAs (small nucleic acids with regulatory functions) and messenger RNAs (nucleic acids that will be utilized for protein synthesis), to activate endogenous stem cells that will participate in tissue repair. The properties of these substances can decrease scarring, apoptosis, and inflammation, promoting at the same time the production of new blood vessels.