Shiseido Succeeds in Visualization of Internal Skin Elasticity

- Decrease of type III collagen involved in age-dependent degradation in skin elasticity -

Development of internal skin elasticity visualization technology

It is widely known that type III collagen, so-called “baby collagen,” significantly decreases with age; however, its connection with resilience had not been clarified.
Now, by using an internal skin elasticity visualization system (Picture 1), which is newly developed by applying ultrasonic technology, the research team has succeeded in visualizing the internal skin elasticity distribution for the first time in the world by analyzing the level of acoustic impedance*. In this research, the team discovered that the resilience in the papillary dermis, where type III collagen is abundant, begins deteriorating in 30s.
*Joint research with Honda Electronics Co., Ltd. and Toyohashi University of Technology

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Aging alteration in internal skin elasticity and in skin morphological structure

By visualizing age-dependent changes in internal skin elasticity, the research team observed that while females in 20s had relatively even skin elasticity, the elasticity in females in 30s started to decrease in the papillary dermis, and aging alteration was further developed in 40s (Picture 2). The team also studied how the variations in skin elasticity in the papillary dermis would change the look of the skin and discovered that the skin surface of females without any signs of variations in elasticity was more likely to be smooth, whereas that of females with decreased elasticity looked slightly rough (Picture 3).

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Reduction in skin elasticity and type III collagen

The team has found out that type III collagen is abundant in the areas with healthy skin elasticity in the uppermost layer of the dermis, but it decreases in the parts where the skin elasticity has deteriorated. This suggests that the decrease in type III collagen triggers the decrease in skin elasticity (Picture 4).

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Watercress extract boosts production of type III collagen

Watercress (Picture 5; botanical name: Nasturtium officinale) is a highly nutritious vegetable rich in vitamins, particularly β carotene, and is claimed to have anticancer and arteriosclerosis prevention effects. Shiseido has discovered that watercress extract works on the dermal cells and promotes the production of type III collagen (Picture 6).

* These research results were partly presented at the International Congress on Ultrasonics held in December 2017 in the U.S.