Effect of a fucose-rich polysaccharide preparation on the age-dependent evolution of the skin surface micro-relief.
It was demonstrated previously that the evaluation of the microdepressionary skin surface relief by semi-automated computerised morphometry enables the determination of several of its geometrical parameters, such as, the average number of polygons in a given microscopic field, and/or the average surface of the polygons. Using this procedure, it could be shown in a study on about 100 persons, males and females, aged from 6 months to 89 years that these parameters undergo age-related alterations. These alterations are faster at younger ages, slow down at middle ages and accelerate after 50-60 years again. Taken at a sun-protected site, the interior face of the forearm, close to the elbow, this test reflects the effect of chronological ageing of the skin surface micro-relief. In the present work we tested the effect of a preparation containing a fucose-rich polysaccharide as active principle on the microdepressionary skin surface micro-relief evaluated by a morphometric method, comparing results before treatment and after 4 weeks of treatment. We could demonstrate on 20 female volunteers, aged from 39 to 71 years, that after 4 weeks of treatment with the abovementioned preparation there was a significant improvement of the skin surface relief, as shown by the displacement of geometrical characteristics of 17 treated skins out of 20, towards a "younger" pattern, as for instance the increase of the average number of polygons in a given microscopic field. This improvement was less than 15% of the untreated value for two persons, and more than 15% for 15 women out of 20. The average improvement was 37.16%, and for the 15 persons showing more than 15% improvement, it was nearly 50%, corresponding to a decrease of apparent age by 10-15 years. These results suggest that a treatment with the fucose-rich polysaccharide preparation can slow down human skin ageing and even can reverse age-dependent skin alterations.
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Laboratoire Universitaire de Recherche en Ophtalmologie, Faculté de Médecine Broussais-Hôtel-Dieu, Institut DERM, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris 6), 1, place du Parvis Notre Dame, 75181 Paris 4, France.
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D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005643:Fucose / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D007711:Klebsiella pneumoniae; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D012867:Skin / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D015595:Skin Aging / Q000187:drug effects*
D011134:Polysaccharides; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial; D005643:Fucose