BACKGROUND: High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) lipolysis still lacks treatment efficacy. We hypothesized that electrical stimulation (ES) of muscular groups can enhance the metabolism of free lipids released from HIFU-ablated adipocytes. METHODS: Five-month-old, male Landrace swine, 95 kg average initial weight, were randomly divided into sham, HIFU-only, HIFU+ES I and HIFU+ES II groups. Subcutaneous adipose tissue of the porcine abdomen was treated once by HIFU on the 1 day of the 1, 3 and 5 weeks, and electrical stimulation of the quadriceps was performed once on the 1 day of the 1 to 6 weeks. The numbers of ultrasonic sonications were 70 per treatment for the HIFU-only and HIFU+ES I groups and 400 for the HIFU+ES II group. The measured data are expressed as medians (ranges). RESULTS: The body weights of all pigs increased gradually with time. The waist circumferences below the sheath decreased from 97.7(6.0) cm in the 1 week, 97.9(5.3) cm in the 3 week to 96.4(10.0) cm in the 6 week and from 105.3(5.1) cm, 101.2(7.4) cm to 100.5(6.1) cm for the HIFU+ES I and HIFU+ES II groups, respectively, whereas they increased for the sham and HIFU-only groups. The reductions in the adipose tissue thickness were 0.59, 1.46 and 2.18 mm for the HIFU-only, HIFU+ES I and HIFU+ES II groups, respectively, when the sham group increased by 1.42 mm. Follow-up blood analyses demonstrated no significant changes in lipid panel parameters from baseline values. CONCLUSIONS: HIFU-electrical therapy can induce a substantial reduction in the waist circumference of pigs.
Date:
2020-06
Relation:
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. 2020 Jun;145(6):1427-1438.
