Good News for a Fast-Wrinkling Generation: Some
Anti-Aging Methods Work
Growing evidence that retinoic acid and other
existing treatments aid key process of collagen repair
By Anne Rueter, University of Michigan
May 28, 2008 - Fine wrinkles, deeper creases, saggy
areas around the mouth and neck – the sights in the mirror that make
baby boomers wince – are not inevitable. They result from a structural
breakdown inside the skin that some existing treatments effectively
counteract by stimulating the growth of new, youthful collagen,
University of Michigan scientists say.
The researchers report an emerging picture of
collagen collapse and possible renewal, based on more than a decade of
studies, in the May issue of
Archives of Dermatology.
The article draws on dozens of studies since the
early 1990s, conducted primarily by U-M dermatologists, to explain why
three types of available skin treatments are effective: topical retinoic
acid, carbon dioxide laser resurfacing and injections of cross-linked
hyaluronic acid.
These treatments all improve the skin’s appearance
– and its ability to resist bruises and tears – by stimulating new
collagen. Collagen is a key supporting substance, plentiful in young
skin, that’s produced in the sub-surface layer of skin known as the
dermis. The U-M findings show that the breakdown of the dermis’ firm,
youthful structure is a very important factor in skin aging – a much
more straightforward thing to fix than genetic factors that others
theorize may be involved.
“We have shown that if you make more collagen go
in, it provides an environment in which fibroblasts recover and make
more collagen.”
Voorhees and co-authors Gary J. Fisher, Ph.D., U-M
professor of dermatology, and James Varani, Ph.D., U-M professor of
microbiology and immunology and pathology, hope the findings will help
people make intelligent decisions amid the hype of the
multi-billion-dollar anti-aging products industry. Fisher directs the
U-M Photoaging and Aging Research Program.
“We want to educate clinicians about what’s been
found, and what it means in terms of how we may improve the appearance
of people,” says Voorhees, the Duncan and Ella Poth Distinguished
Professor of Dermatology at U-M.
Young vs. old skin
Collagen formation and breakdown takes place in the
dermis or inner skin, the thicker, firm layer of skin that lies beneath
the paper-thin outer skin or epidermis, much as a mattress lies beneath
a sheet.
Collagen consists of proteins that make up a
supporting structure surrounding the skin cells. In youthful skin,
collagen is firm, taut and abundant, like a new mattress. In older skin,
the collagen structure begins to fall away, says Voorhees.
Just as a foam mattress over time becomes flatter
in places and creased as its structure breaks down, aging skin begins to
sag and wrinkle when its collagen is diminished and fragmented. The
cycle of events involved in collagen loss is complicated.
Senior citizens can rub it anywhere - it will
help treat the signs of aging
May
22, 2007 - Lotions containing retinol improve the appearance of skin
that has become wrinkled through the normal aging process, not just skin
that has been damaged by exposure to the sun, according to a new study
from the University of Michigan Health System published in the May issue
of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Read more...
As skin ages, reactive oxygen species, associated
with many aspects of aging, lead to increased production of the enzyme
collagenase, which breaks down collagen.
Then fibroblasts, the critical
players in firm, healthy skin, lose their normal stretched state. They
collapse, and then more breakdown enzymes are produced. People in their
80s have four times more broken collagen than people in their 20s.
“What it’s doing is dissolving your skin,” Voorhees
says. “What you’ve got is a vicious cycle. You have to interrupt it, or
aging skin is just going downhill.”
In the elderly, in whom the dermis has lost
two-thirds or more of its youthful thickness through collagen loss, skin
tears and bruises easily. Collagen-building interventions thus have
potential for reducing basic health problems such as bed sores, in
addition to improving appearance.
A growing body of evidence
The U-M researchers base their conclusions on past
studies in which they have explored why certain anti-aging treatments
are effective. A 2007 study looked at Restylane, marketed as a dermal
filler, and found that injections of the product caused fibroblasts to
stretch, promoting new collagen, and also limited the breakdown of
collagen.
In another 2007 study, the U-M team tested lotions
containing retinol, a form of Vitamin A found in many skin-care
products, and found it significantly reduced wrinkles and skin roughness
in elderly skin by promoting new collagen. Other U-M studies have shown
why some laser treatments work and some less powerful ones do not.
Carbon dioxide laser resurfacing is effective because it removes the
aging dermis; in the three-week regrowth process, new, young collagen is
produced.
Voorhees and his colleagues say they provide
needed, independent research on the effectiveness of available and
future treatments to counteract skin aging. They have no ties to the
manufacturers of products they study. Funding has come from the
National Institutes of Health and U-M.
