Sun, inflammation speed aging of skin
Tina Hesman Saey
From Boston, at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Sun exposure leads to wrinkles in double time, new research shows.
Inflammation makes the difference between young, supple skin and aged skin, say researchers at P&G Beauty, a cosmetics company in Cincinnati. Company scientists, led by immunologist Michael Robinson, compared skin from a group of 18- to 20-year-old Florida women with skin from 60- to 67-year-old women who had spent a lifetime in the Florida sun.
Researchers collected skin from the women's buttocks and outer forearms.
Comparing buttock samples allowed the researchers to determine how skin ages where the sun doesn't shine. The researchers examined which genes are turned on and off in young skin and aged skin.
Older skin cells turned up production of enzymes called proteases that break down collagen and elastin, proteins that give skin its spring and structure, Robinson says. As collagen breaks down, skin collapses into wrinkles.
