Maintaining Youthful Skin: Perhaps a Massage is what Benchmark Research Suggests

• The skin is routinely exposed to mechanical stimuli such as: stretching, contraction, compression, torsion

• Cyclical stretching :
  • increases secretion of humoral factors and proteolytic enzymes by activating inflammatory signaling pathways in keratinocytes and fibroblasts
  • induces degradation of the extracellular matrix
  • …the response to it depends on the nature of the stimulus and its duration

• Methods & Results
  • the authors used low intensity cyclical stretching and measured the response of normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF) by molecular biological and immunological analyses
  • cyclic stretching of 10% at 1Hz was done for 3 hours:
    • it induced increased expression of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) and matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1)
  • However when done at a lower frequency (1/6 Hz):
    • the opposite was found, that is reduced COX2 and MMP1.
    • increased levels:
      • collagen
      • heat shock protein 47 (specific molecular chaperone)
      • tropoelastin, fibulin 5 and TGF Beta binding protein 4 (all three regulators of elastogenesis)

The authors conclude that skin responses could depend on the frequency of mechanical stimulation.

Comment: In this study low frequency small mechanical stretching (such as perhaps in a massage ?) could have positive effects on the skin.

Contributors

Dr Christophe Hsu – dermatologist. Geneva, Switzerland

Source of information: P03-10 Shingaki K. et al. Different responses to low intensity mechanical stress in normal human dermal fibroblasts. JSID Annual Meeting (Japanese Society of Investigative Dermatology, 日本研究皮膚科学会) 2014 – Osaka, Japan