Scientists weigh in on skin creams and their claims of harnessing the
power of stem cells
Email Picture
Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times
MARKETING: Some skin creams describe their products as stem -cell
technology; others try to stimulate skin rejuvenation.
Skin creams tout stem cells' restorative powers. But the science
isn't there yet.
By Shari Roan, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 21, 2008
"Restore and renew." "Significantly reduces the loss of cells in the
epidermis." "Regenerate cells and repair tissue."
The newest skin creams beckon with an air of scientific gravitas,
holding out the hope that now, at last, medicine has triumphed over
the visible aging process. With tantalizing biological references and
understated packaging, the products are among the first on the market
to capitalize on the public's insatiable appetite for stem cell
technology.
"The goal of these products is to create a more youthful cell that
would replenish elastin and collagen," says Dr. Kenneth Beer, a West
Palm Beach, Fla., dermatologist. A clinical instructor at the
University of Miami, he conducts clinical trials on skin-care
products.
And, of course, what better way to do that than to harness stem
cells, those potential miracles of self-repair and curative power on
which society is pinning so many medical hopes?
But a word of caution before you plunk down $80 or $155 for these
potions: They may be no better than existing anti-aging skin creams,
the best of which spur the skin to work harder but still produce only
modest effects. Adds Beer of the stem cell-touting products'
potential: "The notion that you could do that with a cream is a
little bit ahead of itself. It's a great piece of marketing because
there is so much interest in stem cells."
That's not to say that stem cells couldn't ultimately improve skin,
perhaps in the next decade or so, says Dr. Leslie Baumann, a
dermatology professor and director of the University of Miami's
Cosmetic Center. But that time has not arrived, she says.
For now, she adds, consumers are being misled.
In fact, the creams don't even contain live stem cells -- just the
suggestion that they're comparable in some way to the much-heralded,
but largely unharnessed, cellular powerhouses.
New creams
The stem-cell skin cream frenzy began last year when a Salt Lake City
company called Voss Laboratories released its product, Amatokin, at
Bloomingdale'
skin rejuvenation.
ounce).
Then came other, equally enticing products and promises. Celebrity
dermatologist Nicholas Perricone offered up StimulCell ($155 for a
1.7-ounce jar), and Dior began hawking Capture R60/80 XP ($80 per 1.7-
ounce jar). Though none of the manufacturers say the products contain
stem cells, the marketing materials are vague enough that consumers
could easily think they were applying the much-heralded cells to
their skin. Capture, for example, claims to "utilize stem cell
technology"; Amatokin says it's "made up of stem cell activating
properties."
Stem cells, most notably found in the tissue of developing fetuses,
have the ability to develop into many types of tissue. Many labs are
working on ways to cultivate them into specific tissues or substances
that could be used to treat a variety of illnesses. Eventually, the
cells could be coaxed into developing into liver, bone, skin or other
tissues to replace missing, defective or diseased tissue.
But this research is in its infancy. Even if scientists figured out a
way to get live stem cells into products, applying them to the skin --
and expecting them to work -- would be a lot to ask. "There is no
conceivable way today that stem cells could be delivered in a topical
product," Beer notes.
Instead, the products are designed to stimulate the skin's own stem
cells, which are layered between the epidermis and dermis. These
cells are constantly dividing, with newer cells slowly moving to the
surface and older cells being shed from the top layer. As people age,
this turnover process slows, causing the loss of elasticity, uniform
color and other characteristics that give skin a youthful appearance.
The goal of many skin-care manufacturers is to find substances that
provoke adult skin stem cells to behave like younger cells, speeding
up the skin-turnover cycle.
Amatokin's advertising material says the product is "made up of stem-
cell activating properties" that can reduce wrinkles and that
it "resets your skin's aging clock by a minimum of five years." The
key ingredient is a peptide (a string of amino acids), says the
creator of the preparation, Taras Nikolaev, a Russian scientist.
Capture contains a mixture of proteins, antioxidants and herbs that
will keep "actively producing adult stem cells alive and able to
continue to produce more collagen," says Dr. Neil Sadick, global
medical advisor for Dior and a clinical professor of dermatology at
Weill Cornell Medical College.
Perricone's StimulCell is made using adult skin cells, based on a
cell line created by removing small pieces of undamaged skin from
behind the ears of healthy young volunteers. These cells were grown
in a culture and subjected to stresses that triggered the cells to
secrete several substances, such as proteins and lipids. These
components are then collected and put through filters to remove any
viruses or foreign substances. The resulting dried powder is used in
the cream.
Perricone acknowledges some discomfort in how StimulCell is marketed -
- it claims to replicate "signals delivered by skin stem cells" --
noting that the product does not contain actual stem cells.
"I like to refer to them as precursor cells," he says. "They act as
messengers in the skin. They send signals to surrounding cells to
bring about whatever change is needed. . . . Everyone is moving in
this direction."
Claims overtake science
Science is still a long way from stem cells-in-a-jar.
Currently, the most effective products have ingredients such as
retinols and glycolic acid that stress the skin and cause
exfoliation. This process alone will "rev up" stem cell activity,
causing the old skin to slough off, says Baumann, the author of "The
Skin Type Solution" whose lab conducts clinical trials for about 45
skin-care companies.
Even companies that do not describe their products as stem cell
technology are bottling cell-cultured substances intended to
stimulate the skin's ability to rejuvenate itself.
The most well-known of these products is SkinMedica's TNS Recovery
Complex, which is sold through doctors' offices and online. It
contains growth factors that play a key role in wound healing, says
Rahul C. Mehta, senior scientific director of Carlsbad, Calif.-based
SkinMedica Inc.
In a randomized, controlled, double-blind study, researchers found
that the product measurably improved skin texture. The study of 55
women was presented in February at the annual meeting of the American
Academy of Dermatology.
Another product, Neocutis' Bio-restorative Skin Cream, also sold
through doctors' offices and online, contains a variety of growth
factors and other substances secreted from cells. In a study of 37
women published last year in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology,
researchers found the product improved skin texture, sagging and
wrinkles by averages ranging from 14% to 28%.
If these products work as described -- stimulating aging cells -- the
question arises as to whether the products could also influence the
growth of abnormal cells, such as precancerous lesions called actinic
keratoses. Neocutis scientists are studying whether its product might
increase precancerous growths but say so far there is no evidence
that it does. Still, the company advises people with precancerous
lesions not to use the product.
shari.roan@latimes.
http://www.latimes.
skincreams21apr21,
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StemCells subscribers may also be interested in these sites:
Children's Neurobiological Solutions
http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
http://www.CordBlood.com/at.cgi?a=150123
The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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