Articles

Applying Vitamins to Skin Slows Wrinkles – Study

Article By Irwin Arieff

PARIS, April 23 (Reuters) – Applying antioxidant vitamins directly to the skin can slow the formation of new wrinkles and erase, to some extent, existing wrinkles and lines, according to a study made public on Thursday.
The study by a non-profit independent group of French scientists found that applying vitamins C, E and beta carotene to the skin may significantly reduce the long-term damage caused by ultra-violet radiation, a key component of sunlight.
It may also actually partially reverse damage already done, the scientists said. Exposure to the ultraviolet radiation in sunlight is a key cause of skin “aging.”
“We have found that topical antioxidants can benefit the skin significantly and play a protective role,” said Dr Serge Hercberg, the study’s coordinator, in a statement.

“Our final results determined that regular application of antioxidant vitamins to the skin not only inhibits ultraviolet-induced damage…but may also facilitate the repair of existing damage — the result of which is loss of elasticity which could lead to wrinkling and premature skin aging,” he said.

The research group’s work is supported by grants from private firms in various industries.

U.S. cosmetics firm Estee Lauder provided the antioxidant vitamin product used in the trial and participated in the study, a spokesman for the project said.

The findings are due to be presented to international dermatology meetings next month, the spokesman told Reuters.

The study, part of a larger eight-year study of nutrition and health in Europe, looked at 160 French women over an 18-month period.

Researchers divided the women into four groups. One took the vitamins in the form of pills, and a second rubbed the vitamins directly on the skin.

The remaining two groups either ingested or applied placebos — harmless compounds containing no vitamins — solely for comparison purposes.

“The most profound results, obtained after 18 months of treatment, clearly showed a marked improvement in the condition of the skin,” the researchers’ statement said.

They found “a 23 percent reduction in the formation of new lines and wrinkles and an eight percent reduction in existing lines and wrinkles.”

Much is already known about the ability of antioxidant vitamins to protect against the damaging effects of free radicals, a highly reactive type of oxygen atom that occurs naturally in the body and can harm tissue, constrict blood vessels and stimulate cancer growth.

The researchers said their study was the first to focus on the vitamins’ effect when applied to the skin rather than ingested.

The larger study, known as the Supplemental Vitamin and Mineral Antioxidant Trial, or SU.VI.MAX, began in 1993 and involves some 15,000 subjects.
It is the largest trial of its type on nutrition in Europe.

Research paper

A novel dextran hydrogel linking trans-ferulic acid for the stabilization and transdermal delivery of vitamin E

Roberta Cassano, Sonia Trombino ^, , Rita Muzzalupo, Lorena Tavano, Nevio Picci

Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Calabria, Cosenza, Italy

Received 24 April 2008; revised 4 September 2008; Accepted 1 October 2008. Available online 14 October 2008.

Abstract

Long-term exposure of the skin to UV light causes degenerative effects, which can be minimized by using antioxidant formulations. The major challenge in this regard is that a significant amount of antioxidant should reach at the site for effective photoprotection. However, barrier properties of the skin limit their use. In the present study, vitamin E (α-tocopherol) was loaded into a dextran hydrogel containing ferulic moieties, covalently linked, to improve its topical delivery, and also to increase its relative poor stability, which is due to direct exposure to UV light. Methacrylic groups were first introduced onto the dextran polymer backbones, then the obtained methacrylated dextran was copolymerized with aminoethyl methacrylate, and subsequently esterificated with trans-ferulic acid. The new biopolymer was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The values of content of phenolic groups were determined. Its ability in inhibiting lipid peroxidation in rat liver microsomal membranes induced in vitro by a source of free radicals, that is tert-butyl hydroperoxide, was studied. Hydrogel was also characterized for swelling behaviour, vitamin E loading efficiency, release, and deposition on the rabbit skin. Additionally, vitamin E deposition was compared through hydrogels, respectively, containing and not containing trans-ferulic acid. The results showed that ferulate hydrogel was a more effective carrier in protecting vitamin E from photodegradation than hydrogel without antioxidant moieties. Then antioxidant hydrogel could be of potential use for cosmetic and pharmaceutical purposes as carrier of vitamin E that is an antioxidant that reduces erythema, photoaging, photocarcinogenesis, edema, and skin hypersensitivity associated with exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation, because of its protective effects.

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