Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 10, 2026
11:07
Visualizing and Quantifying Pharmaceutical Compounds within Skin using Coherent Raman Scattering Imaging
Published on: November 24, 2021
How much do we really know about our favorite cosmeceutical ingredients?
Jacquelyn Levin1, Saira B Momin
1Dr. Levin is from the Mohave Skin & Cancer Clinics, Dermatology Research Center, Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology
|August 21, 2010
Summary
This review evaluates common cosmeceutical ingredients like niacinamide, retinoids, kinetin, green tea, and soy. Niacinamide best meets scientific standards, while evidence for others
Area of Science:
- Dermatology and cosmetic science
- Biochemistry of skin aging
- Evidence-based cosmeceuticals
Background:
- Cosmeceuticals aim to provide therapeutic benefits for skin aging.
- Dr. Albert Kligman proposed specific scientific standards for cosmeceutical ingredients.
- A comprehensive review addressing these standards for common ingredients is lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review scientific data on five common cosmeceutical ingredients.
- To answer key questions regarding the scientific rationale for their use.
- To assess the current knowledge on popular cosmeceutical ingredients.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of published scientific data.
- Analysis of research on retinoids, kinetin, niacinamide, green tea, and soy.
- Evaluation against established scientific criteria for efficacy.
Main Results:
- Retinoid research primarily focuses on retinoic acid; clinical data for retinol and retinaldehyde are limited.
- Kinetin shows in-vitro antioxidant effects, but clinical anti-aging efficacy is not well-established.
- Niacinamide has the strongest scientific backing, with data supporting its permeability, mechanism, and clinical effects.
- Green tea and soy demonstrate antioxidant properties, but clinical evidence for topical anti-aging effects is scarce.
- These ingredients may be more effective in preventing than reversing skin aging signs.
Conclusions:
- Niacinamide best meets the scientific standards for cosmeceutical ingredients.
- Significant gaps exist in the clinical evidence for retinoids, kinetin, green tea, and soy as topical anti-aging agents.
- Rigorous scientific standards are necessary to validate cosmeceutical efficacy claims.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:26Pharmaceutical Equivalents
As defined by regulatory standards, pharmaceutical equivalents require generic drug products to have identical dosage forms and chemically identical active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). They must adhere to compendial or applicable standards for potency, content uniformity, disintegration times, and dissolution rates. In the case of modified-release dosage forms, variations in drug content are permissible as long as the delivered amount remains consistent with the innovator drug product.
01:19Pharmaceutical Alternatives: Excipients and Impurities-Related Therapeutic Nonequivalence
Pharmaceutical products contain more than just the active drug; they also contain various excipients such as binders, solubilizers, stabilizers, preservatives, and other elements. In some cases, impurities or contaminants might be present. Traditionally, quality control in pharmaceuticals has primarily focused on the analysis of the active drug, often overlooking the impact of these additional components. The recent issue with heparin contamination by over-sulfated chondroitin sulfate, a...
01:28Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics: Overview
Understanding drugs, drug products, and their performance in pharmaceutical science is pivotal. Drugs, whether simple molecules or complex compounds, are designed to interact with the body's biological systems to diagnose, treat, or prevent diseases. Drug products include various delivery systems such as tablets, capsules, injections, and inhalers. The performance of these drug products is gauged by their ability to deliver the active ingredient to the desired site of action at the appropriate...
01:19Clinical Applications of Epidermal Stem Cells
Epidermal stem cells (EpiSCs) are mainly located at the basal layer of the epidermis. These cells repair minor injuries of the skin and replace dead skin cells. However, EpiSCs’ cannot heal severe wounds such as major burns or those from diabetes or hereditary disorders. In such cases, culturing the epidermal stem cells from the patient is possible and has yielded successful treatment options, such as laboratory-grown skin grafts. These grafts are synthesized using a patient’s own EpiSCs...
01:16Bioequivalence: Overview
Pharmaceutical equivalents, by definition, are drug products with the same active ingredient in the same quantities, encapsulated in identical dosage forms, and intended for the same administration routes. These pharmaceutical equivalents are deemed bioequivalent if the bioavailability of the active entity in the drug preparations is similar. Moreover, pharmaceutical equivalents demonstrating bioequivalence are also regarded as therapeutically equivalent. This means that when used as directed,...
01:31Lipid-derived Compounds in the Human Body
Fats and lipids are crucial components in the human body. Some lipid-derived compounds, such as fat-soluble vitamins, eicosanoids, lipoproteins, and glycolipids, also play unique roles to support various biological processes .
Fat-soluble Vitamins
Fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamins A, D, E, and K, are required in minimal quantities, but their deficiencies can lead to severely abnormal physiological conditions. For example, vitamin A deficiency can cause night blindness, dry skin, delayed...
Fat-soluble Vitamins
Fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamins A, D, E, and K, are required in minimal quantities, but their deficiencies can lead to severely abnormal physiological conditions. For example, vitamin A deficiency can cause night blindness, dry skin, delayed...