Blue Lagoon Algae Improve Uneven Skin Pigmentation: Results from in vitro Studies and from a Monocentric, Randomized, Double-Blind, Vehicle-Controlled, Split-Face Study
Introduction: Bathing in the Blue Lagoon (BL) in Iceland benefits patients with psoriasis. Accordingly, the BL water contains algae with biological activities that improve skin barrier function and affect T-cell responses relevant for psoriasis. Bathing in the BL is also becoming increasingly popula...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000518781 https://www.karger.com/Article/Pdf/518781 |
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crskarger:10.1159/000518781 2024-06-09T07:47:13+00:00 Blue Lagoon Algae Improve Uneven Skin Pigmentation: Results from in vitro Studies and from a Monocentric, Randomized, Double-Blind, Vehicle-Controlled, Split-Face Study Grether-Beck, Susanne Marini, Alessandra Jaenicke, Thomas Brenden, Heidi Felsner, Ingo Aue, Natalie Brynjolfsdottir, Asa Krutmann, Jean 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000518781 https://www.karger.com/Article/Pdf/518781 en eng S. Karger AG https://www.karger.com/Services/SiteLicenses https://www.karger.com/Services/SiteLicenses Skin Pharmacology and Physiology volume 35, issue 2, page 77-86 ISSN 1660-5527 1660-5535 journal-article 2021 crskarger https://doi.org/10.1159/000518781 2024-05-15T13:29:35Z Introduction: Bathing in the Blue Lagoon (BL) in Iceland benefits patients with psoriasis. Accordingly, the BL water contains algae with biological activities that improve skin barrier function and affect T-cell responses relevant for psoriasis. Bathing in the BL is also becoming increasingly popular among healthy individuals and anecdotal evidence suggests positive effects on uneven skin pigmentation. Objective: The aim of the study was to address the impact of BL algae on skin pigmentation. Methods: In this work, in vitro gene expression studies in melanocytes and a noninvasive in vivo study were conducted. Results: We here report that normal human epidermal melanocytes, which had been treated with nontoxic concentrations of BL algae, show a significantly reduced expression of α melanocyte-stimulating hormone-induced expression of genes important for melanin synthesis, such as tyrosinase, tyrosinase-related protein 1, dopachrome tautomerase, melan A protein, and pre-melanosome protein. This in vitro observation prompted us to conduct a randomized, double-blind, intra-individual, comparative split-face in vivo study, in which 60 volunteers with pre-existing facial pigment spots were treated twice daily with a BL algae containing serum or a vehicle control. We found that constitutive skin pigmentation as determined by colorimetry (individual typology angle and luminescence) did not differ significantly between vehicle- and serum-treated skin sites. In marked contrast, digital photography under cross-polarized lighting and RBX technology (VISIA CR) revealed that the number of pigment spots in the serum-treated face decreased significantly compared to the vehicle-treated side. Conclusion: Thus, BL algae can affect human melanocyte function in vitro and reduce uneven facial skin pigmentation in vivo. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Karger Blue Lagoon ENVELOPE(-22.449,-22.449,63.880,63.880) Melan ENVELOPE(9.098,9.098,62.500,62.500) Skin Pharmacology and Physiology 35 2 77 86 |
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crskarger |
language |
English |
description |
Introduction: Bathing in the Blue Lagoon (BL) in Iceland benefits patients with psoriasis. Accordingly, the BL water contains algae with biological activities that improve skin barrier function and affect T-cell responses relevant for psoriasis. Bathing in the BL is also becoming increasingly popular among healthy individuals and anecdotal evidence suggests positive effects on uneven skin pigmentation. Objective: The aim of the study was to address the impact of BL algae on skin pigmentation. Methods: In this work, in vitro gene expression studies in melanocytes and a noninvasive in vivo study were conducted. Results: We here report that normal human epidermal melanocytes, which had been treated with nontoxic concentrations of BL algae, show a significantly reduced expression of α melanocyte-stimulating hormone-induced expression of genes important for melanin synthesis, such as tyrosinase, tyrosinase-related protein 1, dopachrome tautomerase, melan A protein, and pre-melanosome protein. This in vitro observation prompted us to conduct a randomized, double-blind, intra-individual, comparative split-face in vivo study, in which 60 volunteers with pre-existing facial pigment spots were treated twice daily with a BL algae containing serum or a vehicle control. We found that constitutive skin pigmentation as determined by colorimetry (individual typology angle and luminescence) did not differ significantly between vehicle- and serum-treated skin sites. In marked contrast, digital photography under cross-polarized lighting and RBX technology (VISIA CR) revealed that the number of pigment spots in the serum-treated face decreased significantly compared to the vehicle-treated side. Conclusion: Thus, BL algae can affect human melanocyte function in vitro and reduce uneven facial skin pigmentation in vivo. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Grether-Beck, Susanne Marini, Alessandra Jaenicke, Thomas Brenden, Heidi Felsner, Ingo Aue, Natalie Brynjolfsdottir, Asa Krutmann, Jean |
spellingShingle |
Grether-Beck, Susanne Marini, Alessandra Jaenicke, Thomas Brenden, Heidi Felsner, Ingo Aue, Natalie Brynjolfsdottir, Asa Krutmann, Jean Blue Lagoon Algae Improve Uneven Skin Pigmentation: Results from in vitro Studies and from a Monocentric, Randomized, Double-Blind, Vehicle-Controlled, Split-Face Study |
author_facet |
Grether-Beck, Susanne Marini, Alessandra Jaenicke, Thomas Brenden, Heidi Felsner, Ingo Aue, Natalie Brynjolfsdottir, Asa Krutmann, Jean |
author_sort |
Grether-Beck, Susanne |
title |
Blue Lagoon Algae Improve Uneven Skin Pigmentation: Results from in vitro Studies and from a Monocentric, Randomized, Double-Blind, Vehicle-Controlled, Split-Face Study |
title_short |
Blue Lagoon Algae Improve Uneven Skin Pigmentation: Results from in vitro Studies and from a Monocentric, Randomized, Double-Blind, Vehicle-Controlled, Split-Face Study |
title_full |
Blue Lagoon Algae Improve Uneven Skin Pigmentation: Results from in vitro Studies and from a Monocentric, Randomized, Double-Blind, Vehicle-Controlled, Split-Face Study |
title_fullStr |
Blue Lagoon Algae Improve Uneven Skin Pigmentation: Results from in vitro Studies and from a Monocentric, Randomized, Double-Blind, Vehicle-Controlled, Split-Face Study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Blue Lagoon Algae Improve Uneven Skin Pigmentation: Results from in vitro Studies and from a Monocentric, Randomized, Double-Blind, Vehicle-Controlled, Split-Face Study |
title_sort |
blue lagoon algae improve uneven skin pigmentation: results from in vitro studies and from a monocentric, randomized, double-blind, vehicle-controlled, split-face study |
publisher |
S. Karger AG |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000518781 https://www.karger.com/Article/Pdf/518781 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-22.449,-22.449,63.880,63.880) ENVELOPE(9.098,9.098,62.500,62.500) |
geographic |
Blue Lagoon Melan |
geographic_facet |
Blue Lagoon Melan |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
Skin Pharmacology and Physiology volume 35, issue 2, page 77-86 ISSN 1660-5527 1660-5535 |
op_rights |
https://www.karger.com/Services/SiteLicenses https://www.karger.com/Services/SiteLicenses |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1159/000518781 |
container_title |
Skin Pharmacology and Physiology |
container_volume |
35 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
77 |
op_container_end_page |
86 |
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1801378179638624256 |