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Oral Intake of Specific Bioactive Collagen Peptides Reduces Skin Wrinkles and Increases Dermal Matrix Synthesis
Oral Intake of Specific Bioactive Collagen Peptides Reduces Skin Wrinkles and Increases Dermal Matrix Synthesis
Oral Intake of Specific Bioactive Collagen Peptides Reduces Skin Wrinkles and Increases Dermal Matrix Synthesis
Key Words parison to the placebo group after 4 and 8 weeks (20%) of
Bioactive collagen peptide · Collagen peptides · Skin · intake. Moreover a positive long-lasting effect was observed
Wrinkles · Type I collagen · Elastin · Fibrillin 4 weeks after the last BCP administration (p < 0.05). Addition-
ally, after 8 weeks of intake a statistically significantly higher
content of procollagen type I (65%) and elastin (18%) in the
Abstract BCP-treated volunteers compared to the placebo-treated
Dietary consumption of food supplements has been found patients was detected. For fibrillin, a 6% increase could be
to modulate skin functions and can therefore be useful in the determined after BCP treatment compared to the placebo,
treatment of skin aging. However, there is only a limited but this effect failed to reach the level of statistical signifi-
number of clinical studies supporting these claims. In this cance. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that the oral
double-blind, placebo-controlled study, the effectiveness of intake of specific bioactive collagen peptides (Verisol®) re-
the specific bioactive collagen peptide (BCP) VERISOL® on duced skin wrinkles and had positive effects on dermal ma-
eye wrinkle formation and stimulation of procollagen I, elas- trix synthesis. © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel
tin and fibrillin biosynthesis in the skin was assessed. A hun-
dred and fourteen women aged 45–65 years were random-
ized to receive 2.5 g of BCP or placebo, once daily for 8 weeks, Introduction
with 57 subjects being allocated to each treatment group.
Skin wrinkles were objectively measured in all subjects, be- Skin appearance and integrity get worse with age due
fore starting the treatment, after 4 and 8 weeks as well as to the synergistic effects of chronological and photoaging,
4 weeks after the last intake (4-week regression phase). A hormonal deficiency and influences of environmental
subgroup was established for suction blister biopsies analyz- factors [1]. As a consequence of a decline in several meta-
ing procollagen I, elastin and fibrillin at the beginning of the bolic activities, like quantitative and qualitative changes
treatment and after 8 weeks of intake. The ingestion of the in dermal collagen and elastin, the skin constitution
specific BCP used in this study promoted a statistically sig- changes and typical symptoms of aging are visible. The
nificant reduction of eye wrinkle volume (p < 0.05) in com- loss of connective tissue in cutaneous aging results in de-
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Univ. of California Santa Barbara
the active agent group at the end of the regression phase 0.20
4 weeks regression
the same decreased mean eye wrinkle volume (0.326
mm3) was determined as at the end of the treatment pe-
riod after 8 weeks. Fig. 2. Reduction of eye wrinkle volume persisted in BCP-treated
volunteers 4 weeks after last intake (mean ± SEM; n = 57; ** p <
0.01).
Blister Suction Fluids
Due to inhomogeneous data at the beginning of the
investigation (prior to treatment) between the drug and
Table 1. Demographic data on the study subjects
the placebo groups the results of procollagen, elastin and
fibrillin measurements were expressed in relation to base- Group Baseline (t0) 4 weeks (t1) 8 weeks (t2) 4-week regression (t3)
line data (t0).
Subject number
A 57 55 55 52
Procollagen Content B 57 55 55 55
Procollagen type I content was increased by 65% after
8 weeks of BCP treatment compared to the placebo group. Mean age ± SD, years
A 55.6±5.7 55.4±5.7 55.4±5.7 55.4±5.5
This pronounced impact on collagen synthesis was statis- B 55.6±6.2 55.6±6.3 55.6±6.3 55.6±6.3
tically significant (p < 0.01; fig. 3).
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1.6
The current study is the first investigating the efficacy
* of a specific, orally administered BCP (Verisol®) on eye
Increase
1.2
0.8 wrinkles, demonstrating a statistically significant reduc-
0.4 tion of eye wrinkle deepness (crow’s feet) in comparison
0 to a placebo treatment. At the end of the treatment after
Procollagen Elastin Fibrillin 8 weeks the eye wrinkle volume in the verum group had
Type I
decreased by 17.7% compared to the baseline, whereas in
the placebo group in the same time period the wrinkle
Fig. 3. The amount of procollagen type I and elastin was statisti- volume had increased by 14.5% (Δ 32.2%).
cally significantly increased 8 weeks after BCP administration, in The observed changes in the placebo group might have
contrast to placebo treatment. The content of fibrillin in suction been caused by altered weather and climatic conditions
blister fluid was increased after 8 weeks of BCP ingestion by trend
(mean ± SEM; n = 20; * p < 0.05). during the study period. It is most unlikely that the deter-
mined effect is caused by diet-related alterations, as the
subjects were instructed not to modify their lifestyle dur-
Elastin Content ing the study period. In addition, a direct impact of the
In addition to procollagen, BCP intake also promoted placebo can be excluded as no influence of maltodextrin
a statistically significant (p < 0.01) increase in elastin con- on skin physiology has been described in the literature.
tent of 18% in comparison to the placebo treatment after Therefore it can be assumed that the variations in the pla-
8 weeks (fig. 3). cebo group do not refer to systematic effects.
Apart from the observed efficacy of an oral Verisol®
Fibrillin Content treatment, it is striking that the positive effect on skin
Ingestion of BCP led to a clear increase in fibrillin con- health was persistent for at least 4 weeks after having
tent of 6% in comparison to placebo after 8 weeks of treat- stopped the BCP intake. A possible explanation for this
ment but this result failed to reach the level of statistical long-lasting improvement might be the pronounced in-
significance (fig. 3). crease in the biosynthesis of essential dermal macromol-
ecules such as collagen, elastin and fibrillin. It is known
that collagen and elastin are the major components in the
Discussion dermis supporting preservation of skin structure, skin
firmness and elasticity, and that they directly affect wrin-
Throughout our life skin integrity changes and shows kle formation. In contrast to the healthy skin situation, an
a decrease in elasticity and moisture, as well as a notice- alteration of elastic fibers and degradation of collagen
able increase in wrinkles. Skin wrinkle formation is the bundles does occur in the dermis of wrinkled skin. It is
most prominent sign of growing old [1, 2] and seems to known that collagen fiber deficiencies in aged and photo-
be more common in the skin of Caucasian people [11]. In aged human skin are a major cause of skin wrinkling.
a prospective study it was found that wrinkle onset was Apart from the visible changes in skin wrinkles, in the
delayed by about 10 years in Chinese women compared current study the synthesis of these dermal extracellular
with French women [12]. matrix proteins which are crucial for skin health and well-
Independently of wrinkle incidence and skin ethnic being was investigated in suction blister fluids. It was
aspects, concerns about changes in physical appearance demonstrated that at the end of the treatment period the
brought on by aging are very common. As the demand for collagen content was increased 1.65-fold and that the
interventions to ameliorate visible signs of aging is con- amount of elastin was increased 1.2-fold after Verisol
tinuously growing [13], interest in the development of treatment, compared to the placebo group.
dietary supplements and functional food products for In addition to these positive impacts the ingestion of
skin health has increased as well. BCPs led to an increase of 6% in the content of fibrillin in
In preclinical and clinical studies food supplements comparison to placebo, by the end of the study period.
have been considered as effective cosmeceutical sub- Fibrillins are the most important components of micro-
stances with a potential for reducing wrinkles and im- fibrils and are necessary for the integrity of elastic fiber
proving skin appearance. Especially the efficacy of orally bundles described by Lee et al. [15], who observed a re-
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