A chemical used in cosmetic products promising an "instant face-lift" makes wrinkles disappear by damaging skin cells, Canadian researchers report.
"From our point of view the cells are altered. They stop dividing, they stop secreting, and after 24 hours a certain proportion of them die," Dr Francois Marceau of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Quebec told Reuters Health.
Marceau, a cell biologist, said he is reluctant to recommend that these products not be used. However, the findings make it clear that more research is needed on how these and similar products work.
Marceau and his team tested 2-dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE) in cultured rabbit and human skin cells. As the researchers predicted, applying the product caused a massive and rapid swelling of the cells as they filled with DMAE and water, leading to a thickening of the epidermal layer. They also found that DMAE was toxic to the skin cells, halting cell division, inhibiting secretion, and killing some cells after 24 hours of exposure.