Written by Chrystal Moulton, Staff Writer. Participants that took an astaxanthin supplement observed a significant reduction in wrinkle area and wrinkle volume and skin elasticity.
Astaxanthin is a powerful antioxidant generally found in shrimp, krill, and certain kinds of fish. Researchers in Japan wanted to see if this antioxidant proved beneficial in treating the signs of aging. They conducted two separate human trial.
Trial 1 was an open-label non-controlled study containing 30 healthy female subjects aged 20-55 years old. These women were supplemented 3mg astaxanthin (1 capsule) twice daily after breakfast and after dinner. They were also asked to apply 1ml of topical astaxanthin to their whole face twice daily every morning and evening after washing. Routine supplementation and topical treatment lasted 8 weeks. Researchers measured wrinkles, elasticity, age spot, skin texture, moisture content, oil content, and water loss in skin. After both oral supplementation and topical treatment, results showed significant wrinkle reduction and improvement in skin elasticity (p<0.01). Visual age spot reduction and improvement in skin texture was observed. The deepest point of the deepest wrinkle was approximately decreased from 350 to 325 mm (improvement of 7.15%), (p<0.01) the mean depth of the deepest wrinkle decreased from 170 to 155 mm (improvement of 8.82%), (p<0.01) maximum width of the deepest wrinkle decreased from 590 mm to 460 mm (improvement of 22.03%) (p<0.01) and the elasticity of crow’s feet area improved from approximately 67 to 70% (p<0.05).
Trial 2 was a double-blind placebo controlled study containing 36 healthy male subjects aged 20-60 years old. Subjects were evenly divided into placebo or treatment group and was supplemented either 3mg astaxanthin (1 capsule) or canola oil (1 capsule) twice daily, after breakfast and dinner. Study period lasted 6 weeks and the same measurements were taken as in trial 1. Researchers also observed a significant reduction in wrinkle area and volume and skin elasticity. The researchers measured a change ratio (the measurement after the intake of astaxanthin divided by the measurement before the treatment). The area ratio of all wrinkles was approximately 1.05 in the astaxanthin group and 1.28 in the placebo group. (p<0.05) (A smaller ratio indicates a larger improvement) . Furthermore, the volume ratio of all wrinkles was 1.05 in the astaxanthin group and 1.35 in the placebo group, indicating that there was a higher improvement in group that took astaxanthin (p<0.05). They also observed significant reduction in water loss of the skin (p<0.01) and skin elasticity of crow’s feet (p<0.05).
Source: Tominaga, Kumi, Nobuko Hongo, Mariko Karato, and Eiji Yamashita. “Cosmetic benefits of astaxanthin on humans subjects.” Acta Biochimica Polonica 59, no. 1 (2012): 43.
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Posted December 3, 2013.
Chrystal Moulton BA, PMP, is a 2008 graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago. She graduated with a bachelor’s in psychology with a focus on premedical studies and is a licensed project manager. She currently resides in Indianapolis, IN.
Reference:
- Cosmetic benefits of astaxanthin on humans subjects. Tominaga K, Hongo N, Karato M, Yamashita E. Acta Biochim Pol. 2012;59(1):43-7. Epub 2012 Mar 17.
