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 Aging News & Information
Retinol Lotions Reduce Fine Wrinkles from Natural
Aging of Skin, Scientists Find
Senior citizens can rub it anywhere, and it will
help to 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.
(See larger graphic below story.)
Researchers tested lotions containing retinol
Vitamin A that is found in many skin-care products on the skin of
elderly patients. Lotion containing retinol was used on one arm of each
participant, while a lotion without retinol was applied to the other
arm.
Wrinkles, roughness and overall aging severity were
all significantly reduced in the retinol-treated arm compared with the
control arm, according to the study, which appears in the May issue of
the journal
Archives of Dermatology. The production of collagen, due to the
retinol treatment, also makes it more likely that the skin can withstand
injury and ulcer formation, researchers say.
With the population aging so rapidly, it is
important that we find ways of treating skin conditions of elderly
people not just for purposes of vanity, but also for the healing of
wounds and the reduction of ulcers, says senior author
Sewon Kang, M.D., professor of dermatology at the
U-M Medical School.
Lead author Reza Kafi, M.D., then of the University
of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, and now of Stanford Medical
School, Palo Alto, Calif., and colleagues assessed the effectiveness of
vitamin A (retinol) lotion in 36 elderly individuals (average age 87
years).
Researchers applied a lotion containing 0.4 percent
retinol to participants right or left upper inner arms, and lotion with
no retinol to the other arm, up to three times a week for 24 weeks.
Wrinkles, roughness and overall severity of aging were each graded on a
scale from zero (none) to nine (severe) before treatment and two, four,
eight, 16 and 24 weeks after beginning treatment.
In addition, 4-millimeter biopsy specimens of skin
were taken from both arms at the beginning and end of the 24-week
treatment period.
A total of 23 individuals completed the full study
and 13 withdrew from the study prior to completion. When the researchers
included the individuals who had dropped out of the study by assuming
their skin did not change after their last measurement, wrinkles,
roughness and overall aging severity were all significantly reduced in
the retinol-treated arm compared with the control arm.
The skin biopsies revealed that the retinol
increased the production of glycosaminoglycan and procollagen,
structural components of the skin.
The wrinkles and brown spots associated with aging
appear first and most prominently on skin exposed to the sun, according
to background information in the article.
Human skin not exposed to the sun also ages but
less dramatically, the authors write. In intrinsic, natural or
chronological aging, skin loses its youthful appearance by becoming
thinner, laxer and more finely wrinkled. These changes are readily
appreciated by inspecting the upper inner arm.
Thinner skin results from a reduced production of
the protein collagen and may slow wound healing, presenting a public
health issue. Safe and effective therapies to reverse the atrophy of
natural skin aging do not exist currently, the authors note.
This research serves as an important step forward
in the understanding of how aging skin can be improved, researchers say.
In the past, it was everyone believed that
retinoids would treat only photoaging, or damage from exposure to sun.
This is the first systematic, double-blind study showing that it
improves any kind of aging photoaging as well as natural aging, says
co-author
John J. Voorhees, M.D., the Duncan and Ella Poth Distinguished
Professor and chair of the
Department of Dermatology at the U-M Medical School.
You can rub it anywhere, and it will help to treat
the signs of aging.
The lotion was made at U-M, but U-M will not
commercialize this lotion because it was designed only for experimental
purposes and, therefore, is cosmetically undesirable. Many retinol
containing cosmeceutical creams, however, are sold by various companies.
Those specific products were not tested by the U-M team.
The reduction of wrinkles in the studys
participants was due to increased collagen production and a significant
induction of glycosaminoglycans, which are known to retain large
quantities of water. In general, aging skin tends to be thinner, laxer
and more prone to fine wrinkles than young skin.
Editors Notes:
In addition to Kang, Voorhees and Kafi, authors of
the study Heh Shin Kwak, M.D.; Wendy E. Schumacher, B.S.; Soyun Cho,
M.D., Ph.D.; Valerie N. Hanft, M.D.; Ted A. Hamilton, M.S.; Anya L.
King, M.S.; Jacqueline D. Neal, B.S.E.; James Varani, Ph.D.; and Gary J.
Fisher, Ph.D. All of the authors were at the University of Michigan
Department of Dermatology when they participated in the study. Kafi and
Kwak now are at Stanford Medical School, and Cho is with the Seoul
National University in South Korea.
Fisher, Kang, Varani and Voorhees are named
inventors on an issued patent application concerning methods for
treating skin aging. They would receive royalties under U-Ms
Intellectual Property Policy in the event that a commercial license is
signed and a product is sold. This article describes research that was
part of the basis of the approved application.
The study was supported in part by grants from the
Babcock Endowment for Dermatologic Research, the Merck-American
Federation for Aging Research, Alpha Omega Alpha Student Research
Fellowship and the National Institutes of Health.
Reference: Archives of Dermatology, May 2007, Vol.
143: 606-612.
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