title: Dietary Aloe Vera Supplementation Improves Facial Wrinkles and Elasticity and It Increases the Type I Procollagen Gene Expression in Human Skin in vivo.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  No studies have yet been undertaken to determine the effect of aloe gel on the clinical signs and biochemical changes of aging skin.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We wanted to determine whether dietary aloe vera gel has anti-aging properties on the skin.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty healthy female subjects over the age of 45 were recruited and they received 2 different doses (low-dose: 1,200 mg/d, high-dose: 3,600 mg/d) of aloe vera gel supplementation for 90 days. Their baseline status was used as a control. At baseline and at completion of the study, facial wrinkles were measured using a skin replica, and facial elasticity was measured by an in vivo suction skin elasticity meter. Skin samples were taken before and after aloe intake to compare the type I procollagen and matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP-1) mRNA levels by performing real-time RT-PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After aloe gel intake, the facial wrinkles improved significantly (p<0.05) in both groups, and facial elasticity improved in the lower-dose group. In the photoprotected skin, the type I procollagen mRNA levels were increased in both groups, albeit without significance; the MMP-1 mRNA levels were significantly decreased in the higher-dose group. Type I procollagen immunostaining was substantially increased throughout the dermis in both groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Aloe gel significantly improves wrinkles and elasticity in photoaged human skin, with an increase in collagen production in the photoprotected skin and a decrease in the collagen-degrading MMP-1 gene expression. However, no dose-response relationship was found between the low-dose and high-dose groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Seoul National University Boramae Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Soyun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Serah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Min-Jung
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Dong Hun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Chong-Hyun
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Won
authors.forename: Sang Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jin Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Chung