Histological findings in adipocytes when cellulite is treated with a variable-emission radiofrequency system

Cellulite is a disorder of the subcutaneous fat layer and the overlying superficial skin. Recently, radiofrequency (RF) has been proposed as an effective treatment of cellulite; however, the mechanism through which the absorbed electrical energy acts on the tissue is still not fully clear. This study reports on the histological findings from biopsies taken immediately after a single RF treatment session, on cellulite located in the buttocks, with a novel technology called automatic multi-frequency and low impedance (AMFLI) RF. Tissue samples were stained with either haematoxylin and eosin (H&E), so that we could study the morphological findings, or with oil red O, to enable us to identify lipid deposits. The histological findings observed in biopsies taken after a single RF treatment showed changes in shape, size, and lipid content, as well as in cytoplasmic and nuclear morphology. After RF treatment adipocytes were more polyhedric, with irregular, degenerated membranes, with less or no lipid content and apoptotic changes. We postulate that RF treatment on cellulite produces a decrease in lipid content of cells as well as changes in the adipocyte membrane which will lead to cell rupture and the death and extrusion of lipid content out of the cell. Further studies are needed to characterise the nature of the extra-cellular lipid material that we have demonstrated with the oil red O stain in our biopsies.