title: Cutaneous concentration of lycopene correlates significantly with the roughness of the skin.
abstract: Antioxidant substances in the skin are expected to slow down photo ageing. We therefore developed the hypothesis that high levels of antioxidant substances may be correlated to lower levels of skin roughness. By utilizing modern optical non-invasive in vivo methods, the structures of the furrows and wrinkles as well as the concentration of lycopene were analyzed quantitatively on the forehead skin of 20 volunteers aged between 40 and 50 years. In a first step, the age of the volunteers was correlated to their skin roughness. Here, no significant correlation was found. In a second step, a significant correlation was obtained between the skin roughness and the lycopene concentration (R=0.843). These findings indicate that higher levels of antioxidants in the skin effectively lead to lower levels of skin roughness, and therefore support our hypothesis.
authors.affiliation: Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Dermatology, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Maxim
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Darvin
authors.forename: Alexa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Patzelt
authors.forename: Saskia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gehse
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schanzer
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Benderoth
authors.forename: Wolfram
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sterry
authors.forename: Juergen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lademann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000032:analysis*; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D000077276:Lycopene; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012867:Skin / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000737:chemistry*; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D002338:Carotenoids; D000077276:Lycopene