Botulinum toxin type A plays a role in inhibiting one of the most serious breast surgery complications, capsular contracture. It does so through the TGF-?/Smad signaling pathway, according to a new study.

Researchers treated cultured human fibroblasts in vitro with TGF-?1 and/or botulinum toxin type A. Then they looked at collagen, matris metalloproteinase and Smad expression, according to the abstract.

They found that botulinum toxin type A treatment inhibited Smad 2 phosphorylation and expression of collagen types 1 and 3. But the same treatment enhanced matrix metalloproteinase-2 and matrix metalloproteinase-9. They found that, in vivo, treatment with the neurotoxin reduced capsule thickness and Smad2 phosphorylation in silicone-induced capsules, according to the abstract.

Read the full article at cosmeticsurgerytimes.modernmedicine.com.