Fantastic new study from the prestigious "Annals of Translational Medicine" journal speaking to the "photo agining" process and strong protective effect seaweed has for our skin! They specifically call out Undaria pinnatifida, which you may recall, is the exact seaweed species in our Infiniderm® brand!! Below is a quick summary of what they found.
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Background: Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation (UVB and UVA) is the most well-known extrinsic factor that induces skin aging. Fucoidan has been shown to possess antiphotoaging effects against UV irradiation and can be used as an ingredient in the pharmaceutical industry. The present study evaluated the photoprotective effect of fucoidan purified from Undaria pinnatifida (UPF) on UV-induced skin photoaging and explored its potential molecular mechanism.
Methods: To evaluate the effect of UPF on UV-induced skin aging, HaCaT cells and HFF-1 cells were pretreated with or without UPF and then exposed to UVB and UVA radiation, respectively, and the levels of cellular senescence, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and mitochondrial dysfunction were evaluated. The mitochondrial ROS (mROS) was stained through MitoSOX, and the confocal microscope was used to capture the images. For further exploration of AMPK/SIRT-1/PGC-1α signaling, western blot was employed.
Sound complicated? Here's the lay person version for the rest of us, courtesy of the Infinitum Health team!
Specific skin cells were used to measure skin aging, with or without seaweed applied. Pretty simple :)
Results: The results demonstrated that pretreatment of HaCaT and HFF-1 cells with UPF ameliorated cellular senescence, ROS and mROS overproduction, and mitochondrial dysfunction caused by UV exposure. This research also revealed that UPF could activate the AMPK/SIRT-1/PGC-1α signaling pathway to promote mitochondrial biogenesis.
Conclusions: Undaria Pinnatifida seaweed can reduce UV-induced skin photoaging through inhibition of ROS production via the alleviation of mitochondrial dysfunction by regulating the SIRT-1/PGC-1α signaling pathway.
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In short, this seaweed species, Undaria pinnatifida, the exact same species we use in our Infiniderm® brand, appears to reduce the age related effects of skin aging due to the sun hitting our skin.
Here's to your skin health!!
~ Infinitum Health Team
References
Rongrong Jing, et al. " Protective effects of fucoidan purified from Undaria pinnatifida against UV-irradiated skin photoaging." Annals of Translational Medicine. 2021;9(14):1185
(PDF file below for download as well)