The fountain of youth could be found in the form of a common, inexpensive and safe antioxidant.
Researchers from the University of Maryland found that the chemical methylene blue could slow or reverse several well-known signs of aging when it was tested in cultured human skin cells and simulated skin tissue.
“Our work suggests that methylene blue could be a powerful antioxidant for use in skin care products,” Kan Cao, senior author of the study and an associate professor of cell biology and molecular genetics at Maryland, said in a statement. “The effects we are seeing are not temporary. Methylene blue appears to make fundamental, long-term changes to skin cells.”
Methylene blue and three other known antioxidants were tested for four weeks in skin cells of healthy middle-aged donors, as well as patients diagnosed with progeria—a genetic disease that mimics the normal aging process at an accelerated rate.
Methylene blue outperformed the other three antioxidants—N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine, MitoQ and MitoTEMPO—in improving several age-related symptoms in cells from both the health donors and progeria patients where the skin cells experienced a decrease in damaging molecules known as reactive oxygen species, a reduced rate of cell death and an increase in the rate of cell division.
Methylene blue was then tested in fibroblasts—a cell in connective tissue that produces collagen and other fibers—from donors older than 80 for another four weeks. After the study the older donors had also improved in a number of areas including having decreased expression of senescence-associated beta-galactosidase and p16—the two genes commonly used as indicators of cellular aging.
“I was encouraged and excited to see skin fibroblasts, derived from individuals more than 80 years old, grow much better in methylene blue-containing medium with reduced cellular senescence markers,” Zheng-Mei Xiong, lead author of the study and an assistant research professor of cell biology and molecular genetics at Maryland, said in a statement. “Methylene blue demonstrates a great potential to delay skin aging for all ages.”
The researchers performed several more experiments on a 3D model of simulated human skin made of living skin cells and including all major layers and structures of skin tissue besides hair follicles and sweat glands.
“This system allowed us to test a range of aging symptoms that we can’t replicate in cultured cells alone,” Cao said. “Most surprisingly, we saw that model skin treated with methylene blue retained more water and increased in thickness–both of which are features typical of younger skin.”
The researchers also used the simulated skin to test cosmetic creams with methylene blue and found the chemical causes little to no irritation, even at high concentrations.
“We have already begun formulating cosmetics that contain methylene blue,” Cao said. “Now we are looking to translate this into marketable products.
“We are also very excited to develop the three-dimensional skin model system,” Cao added. “Perhaps down the road we can customize the system with bioprinting, such that we might be able to use a patient’s own cells to provide a tailor-made testing platform specific to their needs.”
According to the study, oxidative stress is the major cause of skin aging that includes wrinkles, pigmentation, and weakened wound healing ability.
The study was published in Scientific Reports.
