FutureDerm

Sirtuins and Skin Anti-Aging

Share Article

Collagen provides the skin with durability and resilience. As collagen production decreases with age, the skin tends to lose firmness and elasticity. Currently, methods used to stimulate collagen production are resurfacing techniques (CO2 laser, microdermabrasion) and retinoid application. However, according to the October 2007 issue of Allure magazine, there is a new way to stimulate collagen production, by prolonging the life of the cells that make collagen, which are called fibroblasts.

How does this occur? Sirtuins, found in Pro-SirtuinSX in Avon Anew Ultimate Age Repair Elixir Serum and Night Cream, prolong the life of the fibroblasts by turning off unnecessary gene expression (i.e., when the fibroblasts aren’t expending more energy than they need to on unnecessary tasks, they will last longer). This means that sirtuins should prolong the life of the fibroblasts in your skin, enabling you to make collagen naturally for more years than if you did not treat your skin with sirtuins.

Sirtuins have been associated with anti-aging processes throughout the body. According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, one of the reasons that calorie restrictive diets have been shown to increase DNA stability and life span by up to 70% in yeast, worms, and flies is because sirtuins are more active under those conditions. Sirtuins essentially act as “energy policemen” in the cell, arresting unnecessary processes in the body by removing acetyl groups from proteins involved. For example, exciting research by the Joslin Diabetes Research Center in 2005 found that increasing Sirt2 (a type of Sirtuin) levels in the cell would block the cell’s ability to undergo differentiation and store fat, demonstrating an instance of how sirtuins can decrease activities in the body. Conversely, the study also found that reducing Sirt2 would promote adiopogenesis, or fat production.

There are currently seven known human sirtuins. In order to keep sirtuin activity high and prolong the life of your fibroblasts, topical application of Avon Anew Ultimate Age Repair Elixir Serum and Night Cream has, according to the October 2007 issue of Allure, been shown to help. There is also additional proof that red wine, grapes, plums, peanuts, and other plant products containing resveratrol may promote sirtuin activity. When the body wants to keep processes going, it produces additional quantities of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), a natural electron carrier that binds to sirtuins and inhibits sirtuin activity. When NAD comes in and attempts to bind to sirtuin, resveratrol has been shown by Howitz. et al in 2004 to inhibit this interaction. However, the amount of resveratrol necessary to provide anti-aging effects is unknown. According to Dr. Sinclair of Biomol Research Laboratories in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, “one glass of wine is enough…within one day of popping the cork,” as resveratrol is highly unstable in the air. However, a differing opinion is live on Wikipedia, where users are advised that the amount of resveratrol present in red wine is “not enough” to inhibit effective amounts of NAD binding.

For now, if you wish to conserve collagen production in your skin for as long as possible, it seems as though sirtuin treatment with Avon Anew Ultimate Age Repair Elixir Serum and Night Cream could prolong the life of your fibroblasts, enabling you to naturally produce collagen longer. In addition, preserving your skin’s collagen production levels can also be done by sun avoidance, retinoids, and antioxidants; and stimulation of collagen production can be conducted via certain dermatological treatments (CO2 laser, microdermabrasion, and even Restylane) and retinoids. Although I could not find any double-blind placebo trials on actual fibroblast activity after prolonged use of Avon Anew Ultimate Age Repair Elixir Serum or Night Cream, it appears to be an effective moisturizer with excellent reported short-term effects (based on research from the Avon website) and great potential for long-term effects via sirtuins.

In contrast with L’Oréal Skin Genesis and Lancôme Absolue Premium Bx, reported yesterday, the L’Oréal products show potential for long-term preservation of glycoaminoglycans (natural-moisturizing factors), whereas the Avon products show potential for long-term preservation of fibroblasts (collagen-producing cells). Both GAGs and enhanced collagen production increase skin’s resilience and durability; it is a shame that each company holds separate patents for each! Nevertheless, it seems that those more concerned with transepidermal water loss or dry skin would benefit somewhat more from the L’Oréal product, which stimulates natural moisturizing factor production, whereas those simply concerned with anti-aging benefits would probably prefer Avon Anew Ultimate Age Repair Elixir Serum and Night Cream. Good luck shopping! 🙂

You might also like

Product Review: Relastin Eye Silk

Accredited in [easyazon_link identifier=”0553383302″ locale=”US” tag=”cosmeticswiki-20″]The Skin Type Solution[/easyazon_link] by one of my idols, Dr. Leslie Baumann (director, Division of Cosmetic Dermatology and Assistant Professor of

About Myself

Nicki Zevola is the founder and editor-in-chief of FutureDerm.com. Named one of the top 30 beauty bloggers in the world by Konector.com since 2009, Nicki

#Mindey

@mindey