In Vitro Extracellular Matrix Expression Analysis on the Anti-Aging Activity of Cosmetics on Primary Human Dermal Fibroblast

Abstract

Skin is the largest organ in the human body. As the organ that is exposed towards the environment, skin confers a cosmetic role in which clean and beautiful skin is perceived as a symbol of beauty and may have a positive influence on the social behavior of surrounding people as well as symbolize the perceived “health” of an individual. However, being exposed to the environment also made the skin vulnerable to damage, which resulted in wrinkles, loss of elasticity, dry skin, thickened epidermis, skin darkening, and discoloration. These conditions are also referred to as skin aging, and many researchers have now considered skin aging as a separate disease that would require more attention [1,2,3]. Many factors could contribute towards the skin aging process and these factors are generally divided into intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors particularly involve age and the genetic makeup of an individual, while extrinsic factors typically involve radiation, chemicals, pollution, and toxins exposure, and are receiving more attention as skin aging prevention strategies. The combination of these factors accelerates the aging process and affects skin appearances as a whole. In particular importance towards the aging process is the level of extracellular matrix components such as protein (e.g. collagen, elastin) and naturally occurring hyaluronic acid, as these components received the highest impact of skin aging processes [2,3,4]. Throughout history, many attempts have been made to preserve skin’s beauty and youthful appearance and to slow down the skin aging process. Skin aging prevention involves the development of various cosmetics that protect against damaging UV radiation, oxidative damage. Additionally, various cosmetics also induce extracellular matrix content synthesis to replenish extracellular matrix content that has been lost. The development of anti-aging cosmetic products is of particular interest due to the growing interest in having beautiful and healthy skin, as well as for the maintenance of healthy skin [2,3]. In this study, an anti-aging cosmetic from a well-known cosmetic company will be tested to examine their capability of inducing expression of collagen I, collagen III, elastin, and hyaluronic acid in primary human dermal fibroblast (HDF) cell lines. Fibroblast is a cell type which is responsible and contributes to the formation of connective tissue. It is responsible for producing extracellular matrices (ECM) and exist abundantly in the dermal layer of the skin [5,6,7]. ECM is responsible for the elasticity and firmness of the skin which are often attributed as the level of health and youthfulness of the skin. Fibroblasts in aged skin would have a lowered level of expressionin the ECM production compared to young adult skin [8,9]. Based on these, it is possible to see whether the product is able to increase the production of ECM by measuring the expression level of several ECM markers after treatment of a skincare product. The expression level of ECM markers such as collagen I, collagen III, elastin, and hyaluronic acid are necessary to determine the level of skin aging. An increase in the production of the ECM would delay and prevent loss of elasticity and firmness of the skin which are usually the most prominent sign of aging.