Hyaluronic Acid

Hyaluronic acid—have enough and you have beautiful skin

I’m sure you’ve noticed that delicious plumpness of a baby’s cheeks that makes you just want to pinch them. One of the major contributers to pinchable skin is hyaluronic acid, or sodium hyaluronate.

What is hyaluronic acid? HA, found in the dermis and the epidermis, is an important component of the intercellular matrix, the ground substance that fills in the spaces between cells and fibers. HA attracts and binds water molecules and serves an important function in tissue hydration. HA is one of the major glycosamineglycans (called GAG for short) to be found in the skin, and it is a gel-like disaccharide, composed of alternating molecules of glucosamine and glucuronic acid. It contributes in a major way to skin plumpness as it is the major water-holding molecule to be found in the connective tissue of the body, specifically the joints and the dermal layer of the skin. One thousand milligrams of hyaluronic acid holds up to six liters of water in the human body. It is a unique GAG in that it does not contain any sulfate and is not covalently attached to any proteoglycan.

Where is hyaluronic acid? Despite our emphasis on the epidermis and superficial damage that occurs there, the sad fact is that the majority of changes related to aging happen at the dermal layer and beyond, at the cellular level. But let’s keep our discussion to the dermis for the moment, as a great deal goes on there. In addition to the collage/elastin network the dermis also contains fibroblast cells, fatty tissue, nerves, blood vessels, sweat glands, hair follicles and sensory structures. A major component of the dermis is the intracellular matrix. This is formed by proteoglycans (protein/carbohydrate molecules) and GAGs like hyaluronic acid surrounded by water. The main functions of the intracellular matrix are to facilitate the nutrition of the various skin components and to protect the skin against external insults. The fluid nature of the intracellular matrix gives the skin its plump, youthful and rounded appearance.

Hyaluronic acid depletion--At around age thirty hyaluronic acid production begins to decrease, and from then on we start to lose HA at the rate of 1% per year. It becomes depleted over time due to age-related slower production rates and oxidative degradation. Since HA in topical form does not really penetrate to the dermis where it will do some good, and because HA oral supplements go to the joints but not the skin, replacing diminishing HA becomes somewhat of a dilemma. The solution may be to work with the body’s natural propensity to heal itself. The production of the disaccharide may be stimulated in the presence of adequate amounts of the monosaccharide building blocks needed for its formation. This is where glyconutrients in sufficient quantity and in adequate variety play an important role in keeping skin looking youthful.

Hyaluronic acid fillers--Restylane and Perlane are brand names for hyaluronic acid-based wrinkle fillers that originated in Sweden and have been used throughout Europe since 1996, and in Canada since 2000. Since HA is already present in the body’s system it is probably the safest, least invasive cosmetic procedure around.