Wrinkles. They start showing up in our faces around the age of 45. Some have only a few lines, maybe around the eyes and mouth, giving them an air of distinction and grace. This, unfortunately, is an inevitable effect of normal aging, which is the focus of this discussion.

There are also people who had smoked cigarettes for a good part of their lives or who have had one too many sun tanning sessions experience premature and excessive aging of the skin. While these last two factors are important, it is the “normal” causes of wrinkling around the eyes, forehead, and mouth on which scientists and dermatologists have focused their efforts.

What causes normal age-related wrinkles?
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, “as skin ages, collagen and elastin (fibers that keep the skin firm) weaken. The skin looks loose and lax, becomes thinner, and loses fat, so that it looks less plump and smooth. While all these changes are taking place, gravity is also at work, pulling at the skin and causing it to sag.” But there’s another set of forces constantly working against you, which wrinkles your skin, forming what we call ‘espression lines.’

Over a lifetime of laughing, frowning, smiling, expressing surprise and a host of other emotions, the lines formed on your face as a result of these expressions gradually stay where they are. That’s because the lack of collagen and elastin keep those expression lines from disappearing once the expression of emotion is gone. When you are young those expression lines disappear right away. But as you age, they start staying where they are little by little, until you develop deeper frown lines and more noticeable wrinkles in other parts of your face. What gives your face the ability to express these emotions? In a word: muscles.

Scientists discovered that within each cell are chemical messengers (catacholamines) that tell your muscles to contract in order to form those expression lines. Then researchers asked, “what if we can prevent the muscles from contracting?” Botox was the answer. It basically blocks the cells’ process of signaling the muscles to contract. What you get is ‘no expressions, ergo, no expression lines.’ Also, Botox does nothing to help restore collagen in your skin. The only problem is that Botox injections are expensive, painful, and inconvenient. Is there a better alternative?

A group of researchers believed there was. They found that applying a topical cream containing a group of amino acids (protein building blocks), called aminopeptides, to the skin, helped block the signaling pathways of facial muscle cells, thereby reducing the appearance of expression lines. And because the cream is composed of protein molecules, it helps the body to manufacture new collagen, which is a key factor in fighting wrinkles.

A study was conducted on 17 healthy women volunteers who received a solution containing aminopepetides. Analyses revealed that after 28 days of treatment, the depth of wrinkles had significantly decreased, confirming the validation of the biochemical mechanism hypothesis.

Another study involved 20 women ranging in age from 40-62. They were given either a gel formula containing 3% of a collagen-like peptide and 1% of a booster molecule that stimulates general cell metabolism with no specific effect on wrinkles, or a placebo gel, on the eye zone area twice a day for 4 weeks.

Here are the results as reported by the researchers:
“There was a significant reduction of the total surface of wrinkles. This effect was observed in 75% of the replicas (solution). Also, the decrease in number and average depth of wrinkles was significant and was observed in 65% and 75% of the replicas, respectively. The effect of the collagen-like peptide on reducing the total and average length of wrinkles was also remarkable. This effect was statistically highly significant and was observed in 75% to 80% of the replicas. The results demonstrate that the collagen-like peptide acts deeply and intensely on wrinkles; these properties are of great interest in the field of antiaging skin care research.”(1)

References:
1. Int J Tissue React. 2004;26(3-4):105-11