Dermal Histology in Mouse Skin Exposed to Cosmeceuticals

Chronic exposure to environmental ultraviolet radiation elicits deleterious photoaging changes and histopathological damage to the skin. In addition to cosmetic surgical procedures, over-the-counter products described as cosmeceuticals are widely used by a large segment of globally aging populations to partially reverse changes induced by photoaging. Many such products are rarely examined in the laboratory to examine their ameliorative properties and microscopic effects on various skin compartments. The hairless mouse is a popular animal model widely used over the last few decades by researchers to compare cosmeceuticals about their properties to combat or reverse cutaneous photoaging changes. In the present experiment, five cosmeceuticals were topically administered to the dorsal skin over 2 weeks in the nonirradiated mice, and skin samples were analyzed for dermal histopathological changes. Histomorphometric procedures were employed to generate quantitative data on skin sections prepared with immunohistochemistry and staining technics, and the data statistically examined. Among the five agents tested, glycolic acid and retinoic acid produced striking changes, while vitamin C, estrogen, and soy product resulted in less remarkable responses. These quantitative data will be useful for further photoaging studies with these cosmeceuticals.