Ultrastructural assessment of cellulite morphology: clues to a therapeutic strategy?

Cellulite is a problematic condition affecting mostly women, characterized by a bumpy or nodular skin surface. Recent approaches with laser treatment have offered some promise. The present study sought to identify possible targets for laser treatment or light therapy through an ultrastructural investigation of the condition.

Study subjects comprised 7 healthy Japanese female volunteers (Age range 37-46 yr, average 38.4) with cellulite, graded on the 4-point Nurnberger-Muller cellulite severity scale. Four patients were at grade 2 and 3 at grade 3. Three millimeter punch biopsies were obtained and routinely processed for light and transmission electron microscopy.

Microphotography of specimens from cellulite patients demonstrated the presence of fibrotic septa which divided up larger clusters of adipose tissue into smaller packets, with the septa acting as a tethering system, thus producing the typical dimpling pattern. Ultrastructural findings showed proliferation of collagen and elastic fibers down into the cellulite tissue with compression of capillaries and congestion of arterioles, resulting in poor blood flow.

The histological and ultrastructural findings of cellulite clearly distinguish the condition from simple fat deposition. The remodeling of the fat layer into lobulated packets of lipocytes sequestered by fibrotic septa with a high proportion of elastic fibers would suggest the use of a fiber-based interstitial laser-assisted lipolysis system at an appropriate wavelength which might offer benefits through disruption of the septae through a photomechanical effect and lipolysis of the sequestered lipocytes. This could be followed by a course of near-infrared phototherapy to accelerate clearance of freed lipid and debris and reestablish the vascular system.