What about exosomes?

Exosomes are tiny, bubble like vesicles released by cells as messengers carrying proteins and genetic material between cells. Commercially available exosome products act as high-tech delivery vehicles that carry complex "biological scripts" to reprogram human cells. These "scripts" or messages dictate how a recipient cell should function, heal, or regenerate. Regenerative therapies use this signaling to instruct a cell to produce more collagen & elastin.

Although this can lead to a dramatic increase in collagen it is considered a biological product and carries a risk for immune rejection, variability in cell quality, and concerns regarding tumorigenesis. This is because the source comes from human material (umbilical cord tissue, Wharton’s jelly, cultured cells, adipose tissue, placenta). The fact that the product works by instructing your own cells to produce a product gives me reason to pause. There are many reasons this can have un-intended consequences.

I look forward to seeing where this biologic technology goes, but for now I do not offer it in my practice for the reasons mentioned above and because of the availability of your own body’s platelets (PRF product from your own drawn blood) which release endogenous exosomes with no safety concern or long-term adverse effects.