Morphological Characteristics of Residual Skin Surface Components Collected from the Surface of Facial Skin in Women of Different Age

Lipid Differences and Related Metabolism Present on the Hand Skin Surface of Different-Aged Asiatic Females-An Untargeted Metabolomics Study

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate differences in skin surface lipids (SSL) and explore related metabolic pathways among females of different ages in Henan Province. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS) was used to determine the lipid composition of the skin surface of 58 female volunteers who were divided into three age groups. Statistical analysis was performed using Progenesis QI, Ezinfo, and MetaboAnalyst. Multivariate and enrichment analysis were used to identify the different SSL among the groups. A total of 530 lipid entities were identified and classified into eight classes. Among these, 63 lipids were significantly different between the groups. Lower levels of glycerolipids (GLs) and sphingolipids (SPs) were observed in the middle-aged group, while higher levels of GLs were found in the elder group. GLs belonged to the largest and statistically significant enrichment of lipid metabolic pathways, and the lipid individuals enriched to the sphingoid bases metabolism were the most and statistically significant. These findings suggest that there are differences in hand SSL among females of different ages, which may be related to GLs and sphingoid bases metabolism.

Difference between the biologic and chronologic age as an individualized indicator for the skincare intensity selection: skin cell profile and age difference studies

Background

The present research addresses the issue of skin aging and corresponding skin treatment individualization. Particular research question was on the development of a simplified criterion supporting patient-specific decisions about the necessity and intensity of skin treatment. Basing on published results and a wide pool of our own experimental data, a hypothesis is formulated that a difference between biologic and chronologic age can be used as a powerful indicator of skin aging.

Methods

In the present paper, we report the results of studies with 80 volunteers between 15 and 65 years of age linking skin cell profile parameters to biologic and chronologic age. Biologic age was calculated using the empirical expressions based on the forced vital lung capacity, systolic blood pressure, urea concentration, and blood cholesterol level. Epidermis and derma cellular structures were studied using skin biopsy samples taken from the gluteal region.

Results

The present study supports the conclusion that biologic and chronologic age difference is changing in the progress of life. Our studies are showing that time point when calculated biologic age becomes equal to the chronologic one reflecting the onset of specific changes in the age dependencies of experimentally measured skin cell profile parameters. Thus, it is feasible that a difference between chronologic and individually assessed biologic age indeed reflects the process of skin aging.

Conclusions

With all reservations to the relatively small number of study participants, it seems feasible that a difference between biologic and chronologic age can be used as an indicator of skin aging. Additional research linking blood immune profile and skin topography to the difference of biologic and chronologic age (reported in the following paper) provides further support for the formulated hypotheses. So, a difference between calculated biologic age and chronologic age can be used as an individualized criterion supporting decisions on skin treatment strategies. Further research involving larger numbers of participants aimed at optimizing the expressions for calculating biologic age could lead to reliable and easily available express criterion supporting the decision for the individualized skin treatment.

Continuous Dark Chocolate Consumption Affects Human Facial Skin Surface by Stimulating Corneocyte Desquamation and Promoting Bacterial Colonization

Background: Nutrition can influence skin health. Dark chocolate possesses health promoting properties, but its consumption can exacerbate acne vulgaris in young people. Objective: We evaluated effects of continuous dark chocolate intake on morphological characteristics of the residual skin surface components (RSSCs) collected from the facial skin of young and middle-aged men. Methods: RSSC samples were taken from 17 young and 16 middle-aged men before and after a four-week consumption period of dark chocolate (10g per day). Lipid droplet size, corneocyte desquamation, and microbial presence levels were measured in the collected RSSC. The project was registered as ISRCTN89815519 in the ISRCTN registry (https://www.isrctn.com/). Results: Chocolate consumption caused a significant increase in corneocyte desquamation only in the group of young men, whereas Gram-positive microorganism presence significantly increased in both the young and middle-aged men, though this effect was noticeably stronger in the young men. Conclusion: Dark chocolate consumption appears to affect the facial skin of young men by enhancing corneocyte desquamation and promoting bacterial colonization of the RSSC. These changes might potentially contribute to acne development.

Continuous astaxanthin intake reduces oxidative stress and reverses age-related morphological changes of residual skin surface components in middle-aged volunteers

Oxidative stress accelerates skin aging, and dietary supplementation with antioxidants may alleviate it. Morphological analysis of the residual skin surface components (RSSCs) allows detecting age-related changes in corneocyte desquamation, microbial presence, and lipid droplet size. We hypothesized that continuous ingestion of carotenoid antioxidant astaxanthin (4 mg/d) for 4 weeks could influence RSCC morphology and evaluated RSSC samples taken from middle-aged subjects before and after this dietary intervention. The study included 31 volunteers (17 men and 14 women) over the age of 40. RSSC samples were collected from the surface of the facial skin at the beginning (day 0) and end (day 29) of the study. In addition, blood samples were taken on days 0, 15, and 29 for measuring plasma levels of malondialdehyde that allowed assessing systemic oxidative stress. The results demonstrated that plasma malondialdehyde consistently decreased during astaxanthin consumption (by 11.2% on day 15 and by 21.7% on day 29). The analysis of RSSC samples has revealed significantly decreased levels of corneocyte desquamation (P=.0075) and microbial presence (P=.0367) at the end of the study. These phenomena as well as a significant (P=.0214) increase in lipid droplet size were more strongly manifested among obese (body mass index >30 kg/m²) subjects. All described RSSC changes correspond to a shift toward characteristics of skin associated with a younger age. The results confirm our hypothesis by demonstrating that continuous astaxanthin consumption produces a strong antioxidant effect resulting in facial skin rejuvenation which is especially pronounced in obese subjects.