Abstract

Objectives: There are still no clinical data on the anti-aging effect of oral treatment with retinol or retinal derivatives. For this reason, a prospective, randomized, controlled, 3-month, assessor-blinded, trial was conducted to assess the clinical efficacy and the tolerability of the In & Out strategy conducted with the combination of oral Vitamin A (50000 UI) and vitamin E (50 mg) and topical gel contains retinoic acid (0.02%) and glycolic acid (4%). Introduction: Skin aging is caused by both intrinsic (chrono-aging) and extrinsic factors (photo-aging). Topical retinoid treatment is a standard therapeutic approach for skin aging. Vitamin A is a non-esterified free form of retinoid; retinol is able to stimulate new collagen deposition, reducing mettalloproteinases expression. Vitamin E has antioxidant properties. It is able to counteract radicals and protect the skin from solar radiation. Indeed, the use of antioxidants is an effective strategy to counteract the skin aging processes. Both vitamins A and E must be regularly consumed in our diet. Materials / method: 60 participants, were enrolled and randomized in 1:1 allocation ratio: GROUP A applied retinoic acid (0.02%) and glycolic acid (4%) once a day every two days, GROUP B applied the medical device and assumed vitamin A (50000 UI) and vitamin E (50 mg) one capsule daily. Inclusion criteria were age>50 years, Glogau Score>2. Exclusion criteria were pregnancy/breastfeeding, liver disease, dyslipidemia, and acute skin diseases. Efficacy outcome was evaluated in an assessor-blinded at at T0, T1 (w6), T2 (w12) Results: 60 participants were enrolled and completed the study and randomized into two groups: Group A (n=30, mean age 59.9±8.5 years, mean SAGS at baseline 12.8±4.0) and Group B. The Skin Aging Global Score (SAGS), based on the sum of different six parameters decreased in both groups: The reduction was statistically significant after 12 weeks in Group A (22%, p<0.05) and in Group B (-27%, p<0.01). The reduction in SAGS after 12 weeks compared to baseline was significantly higher in Group B. Both treatment regimens were well tolerated. Conclusion: There are still no clinical data on the anti-aging effect of oral treatment with retinol or retinal derivatives. A prospective, randomized, controlled, assessor-blinded, trial was conducted to assess the clinical efficacy and the tolerability of the In & Out strategy conducted with the combination of oral Vitamin A and vitamin E and topical gel contains retinoic acid and glycolic acid. This trial confirmed that the combination of an “In & Out” strategy of oral supplementation and gel shows superior efficacy in terms of clinical and instrumental improvement in comparison with topical treatment.