Section : Articles

The Anti-Aging Effects of Hyaluronic Acid: Beyond Fillers

  • Age-related changes are due to many factors influencing the structure of the epidermis (texture changes) as well as changes in the dermis (loss of volume).
  • The following study shows the role of hyaluronic acid (HA), BOTH large and small fragments in Epidermal age related skin changes.
  • This study shows that topical application of small HA fragments (bovine derived) in aged mice skin:
    • by enabling the keratinocytes (epidermis) to proliferate and increases skin thickness
    • they do  NOT enable keratinocyte differrentiation or barrier repair
  • Exactly the opposite, large HA fragments:
    • enable keratinocytes to differentiate and to have a functional barrier function
    • minimally promote keratinocyte proliferation and skin thickness
  • Both large and small HA fragments are ineffective :
    • in CD44 knockout mice. This suggests the important signaling role CD44 appears to play.
    • when RHO kinase activity is blocked (with Y27632 or protein kinase activity with Ro31-8220)

Conclusion: This study could show (not in humans) that not only hyaluronic acid plays a role in the dermis (as a filler), but also in the maintenance of the epidermis.

The full article is available by clicking HERE.

Contributors

Dr Christophe Hsu – dermatologist. Geneva, Switzerland

Source of information: Hyaluronan-CD44 interaction promotes c-Jun signaling and miRNA21 expression leading to Bcl-2 expression and chemoresistance in breast cancer cells. Chen L, Bourguignon LY. Mol Cancer. 2014 Mar 8;13:52.