Study summary · research use only
Free radicals and aging of the skin
Plain-language summary
Paraphrased from the published abstract below — not a verdict on whether anything works.
This review article discusses cutaneous aging, describing it as intrinsic aging combined with photoaging from ultraviolet light. The authors summarize how free-radical generation in skin, by UV light, cellular infiltrations, or the xanthine oxidase reaction, can be detected, and note that UV exposure decreases antioxidant enzymes and low-molecular-weight antioxidants such as glutathione, vitamin E, and ubiquinone. They describe this as an indication that photo-oxidative stress can overwhelm the pro-antioxidant balance, and present antioxidant supplementation as a proposed means of preventing or slowing premature cutaneous aging. No new experimental data are reported.
Abstract
Cutaneous aging is the result of genetically determined or intrinsic aging superimposed by degenerative changes due to actinic irradiation, also called photoaging. The manifestations of cutaneous aging, as it relates to the perception of age, is caused by ultraviolet light, in particular in those parts of the body exposed daily to solar radiation. Free radical generation in the skin by UV light and from other sources, such as cellular infiltrations or the xanthine oxidase reaction, may be detected by direct and indirect methods. The decrease in antioxidant enzymes and small molecular weight antioxidants such as glutathione, vitamin E and ubiquinone upon exposure to UV light is an indication that the pro-antioxidant balance can be overwhelmed by acute or chronic photo-oxidative stress. Antioxidant supplementation is therefore a means for prevention or at least retardation of premature cutaneous aging.
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