Results of a randomized, double blind, controlled study showed that different molecular weights of the ingredient improved skin health in 61 people with dry skin over a six-week period.
“This study showed that the ingestion of HA (MW: 800 k and 300 k) by subjects with dry skin increased their skin moisture content and improved skin aging symptoms such as luster and suppleness of facial skin,” wrote the researchers from Kewpie Corporation and Toho University Ohashi Medical Center.
“[I]t is expected that HA can be used as a functional food for improving the skin condition as it moisturizes dry skin internally,” they wrote in the Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition.
The study used Kewpie Corporation’s Hyaluronan ingredients Hyaluronsan HA-F (MW: 800 k) and Hyabest(S) LF-P (MW: 300 k), and found that the skin benefits recorded in the Hyabest group were still observable two weeks after the end of the study.
HA
Hyaluronan is found throughout the body, and is responsible for helping fortify and regenerate skin cells by transporting ionic solutes and nutrients to the upper level of skin, the stratum corneum. This reduces both the discomfort of dry skin and the appearance of lines and fissures, said Kewpie.
The ingredient has been used topically for decades to moisturize skin, but evidence that the benefits are also observed when HA is ingested have been limited.
Study details
The Japan-based scientists recruited 61 subjects with dry skin and randomly assigned them to receive placebo or 120 mg per day of Hyaluronsan HA-F or Hyabest (S) LF-P for six weeks.
Results showed that both interventions were associated with increases in skin moisture, compared with the placebo group. In addition, the benefits effects of the lower molecular weight ingredient endured for two weeks after the end of the study.
Additional data obtained from a questionnaire indicated that subjective facial aging symptoms including luster, suppleness and wrinkles were significantly improved in the HA groups compared with the placebo group.
The participants were also thoroughly examined by dermatologists for signs of adverse effects on the skin from the HA supplements, but no adverse effects were reported. The researchers noted that other studies lasting 12 weeks and 12 months also failed to show any adverse effects from consuming 240 mg and 200 mg per day of the ingredient.
“Therefore, the safety of HA as a food material has been confirmed by long-term ingestion,” they said.
Source: Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition
Published online, doi: 10.3164/jcbn.14-81
“Ingestion of hyaluronans (molecular weights 800 k and 300 k) improves dry skin conditions: a randomized, double blind, controlled study”
Authors: C. Kawada, T. Yoshida, H. Yoshida, W. Sakamoto, et al.