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SKIN CARE FORMULATION INCORPORATING SODIUM LACTATES, SODIUM
PCA AND LAURYL PCA: COMPARATIVE MOISTURISING EFFICACY ON ASIAN
SKIN
Rosnah Ismail* and Salmiah Ahmad*
*Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) - Malaysia
Sodium lactates, sodium PCA and lauryl PCA are known Natural Moisturizing Factor
(NMF) commonly used in skin care formulations. In this paper, moisturizing efficacy
of oil-in-water (O/W) based emulsion containing 3% glycerin use as placebo and with
additional NMF @1%, 3% and 5% active were conducted in-vivo on 36 Asian
subjects consisting of a mixture of one Indian, two Chinese and the rest Malays
including 21 females and 15 males, age between 23 to 45 years old (average 32
years). The subjects were divided into 3 groups of 12 subjects and each group was
assigned to a set of formulae containing the NMF @1%, 3% and 5% active
respectively.
The moisturizing efficacy was measured using Corneometer 820 CM (Courage &
Khazaka) in a conditioned room (22 ± 2oC, 50 ± 5% relative humidity). Subjects were
required to stay for half an hour in the conditioned room before measurement was
made. The product (0.25g) was applied randomly on designated area of 6 cm2 on the
subject’s forearm, after which, several hydration measurements were made at fixed
intervals (30, 60, 90, 120 and 180 minutes. One area was left untreated as control.
The results indicated that @1% active, the moisturising efficacy of all three NMF
increased significantly compared to untreated area as well the placebo to more than
25% but no significant different between them. At 3%, sodium lactates performed
slightly better than either sodium PCA or lauryl PCA, while @5%, sodium lactates
reached maximum skin hydration immediately after 30 minutes application, while
sodium PCA and lauryl PCA, reached maximum hydration after 60 minutes
application, there after maintained the skin hydration throughout the test duration,
unlike @1% active, which showed decreasing in trend after 90 minutes application.
Overall sodium lactates performed best in all tested concentrations. There was no
significant difference between sodium PCA and lauryl PCA at all tested
concentrations. These results show that 1) in PCA structures, the hydrophilic-
lipophilic balance does not influence skin moisturisation performances 2) the free OH
group in lactate is important in determining its activity 3) the importance of selecting
the right concentration in order to increase the driving force for skin penetration in
ionic species and 4) moisturizing actives require adequate investigation on their use
concentration for getting the required efficacy. Long-term moisturisation studies are
also being investigated.
SKIN CARE FORMULATION INCORPORATING SODIUM LACTATES, SODIUM
PCA AND LAURYL PCA: COMPARATIVE MOISTURISING EFFICACY ON ASIAN
SKIN
INTRODUCTION
The skin has the property to retain water in order to maintain its proper barrier
function. In situations of environmental stress, age or intrinsic physiological
disturbances, this function is maintained only in part. The water storage capacity of
the skin decreases with an increased water loss by evaporation (transepidermal
water loss, TEWL), resulting in a dry, deep-wrinkled or even squamous skin. The
reconstitution of skin moisture is thus one of the main targets for skin care
formulations.
Principally skin moisture can be improved either by hydrophilic substances binding
water on the skin surface (humectants) [1], or by enriching the natural moisturizing
factor (NMF) of the skin [2,3,4,5]. Typical examples of humectants are glycerol,
sorbitol and propylene glycol. On the other hand, NMF is a complex mixture of low
molecular weight, water-soluble compounds such as amino-acids (mainly serine,
alanine and citroline), pyrrolidone carboxylic acid (PCA), lactic acid, or their
respective salts, and urea, which are naturally present in the stratum corneum [6].
This paper highlighted a comparative moisturizing efficacy of skin care formulation
based on an O/W emulsion incorporating various NMF i.e. sodium lactates, sodium
PCA and lauryl PCA at various concentrations @1%, 3% and 5% active against a
placebo containing a humectant, glycerin @3%. The study was conducted at the
Efficacy Laboratory, AOTD (Advanced Oleochemical Technology Division), MPOB
(Malaysian Palm Oil Board), Malaysia on Asian skin namely Malaysian.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Test substances
The NFM used in the O/W emulsion are sodium lactates (PURASAL S/HQ 60),
Sodium PCA (Nalidone) and Lauryl PCA (Dermidrol L) and the concentrations used
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are @1%, 3% and 5% actives. The placebo O/W emulsion also contained glycerin
@3%.
Methods
Subjects were instructed not to wash or use any other product on their forearms for
at least 5 hours before the test. The evaluation was conducted on volar forearms,
two areas of 6 cm2 were marked on each forearm and treated with the products,
while one area on the upper arm was left untreated and used as control. The product
(0.25gm) was applied uniformly and randomly in the defined area and let to dry for
30 minutes, after which several hydration measurements were made at fixed
intervals (30, 60, 90, 120 and 180 minutes).
For the long-term efficacy, the subjects continued to apply the products twice daily
for 2 weeks on the designated areas. Skin moisture was measured on Day 7 and 14,
12 hours after the last application.
The moisturising efficacy was conducted on 36 subjects consisting of a mixture of
one Indian, two Chinese and the rest Malays including 21 females and 15 males,
age between 23 to 45 years old (average 32 years). The subjects were divided into 3
groups of 12 subjects and each group was assigned to a set of formulae containing
the NMF @1%, 3% and 5% actives respectively, together with the placebo as a
control.
Statistics
Data obtained was analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), to determine if
there was any significant difference in a set of data, and Tukey HSD test to detect
any significant difference in multiple comparisons between the data. All statistical
analyses are conducted at 95% confidence limit or at significance level, α = 0.05.
Moisture Measurement
The skin moisture was measured using a Corneometer CM 820 (Courage & Kazaka,
Germany). Prior to measurement, subjects were conditioned for 30 minutes in a
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conditioned atmosphere (22±2oC, 50±5% relative humidity) with their forearms
uncovered to let the skin adapt to the temperature and humidity of the room.
RESULTS
The short-term moisturising efficacy are shown in Figures 1-3, a) indicates skin
moisture in corneometric unit (c.u.) while b) skin moisture in percentage. All three
natural moisturizers performed equally @1% active, @3% sodium lactates
performed slightly better than either sodium PCA or lauryl PCA, while @5%, sodium
lactates reached maximum skin hydration immediately after 30 minutes application,
while sodium PCA and lauryl PCA, reached maximum hydration after 60 minutes
application and there after maintained it throughout the test duration. Generally the
mosturising effect of all NMF at all concentrations are significant compared to the
non-treated skin area and also enhanced the moisturizing efficacy of the placebo
containing 3% glycerin significantly (p<0.001)
For the long-term efficacy, increase in skin moisture with time was also observed. At
1% and 3%, sodium lactates seemed to perform better than either lauryl PCA or
sodium PCA. However, @5%, all three NMF performed equally. In all cases, the skin
moisture of the placebo was enhanced with incorporation of the NMF at all
concentrations after 2 weeks application. Statistically there was no significant
different between the three natural NMF at all tested concentrations. The results
were as indicated in Figures 4-6.
DISCUSSION
The design of the moisturising efficacy studies was based on EEMCO (European
Group for Efficacy Measurement on Cosmetics and other Topical Products)
guidance [7]. It was conducted in a controlled environment (22 ± 2
oC, 50 ± 5%
relative humidity) and controlled procedures such as one operator and allowing the
subjects to acclimatize at least 20-30 minutes to the room conditions before
measurements are observed accordingly [7,8]. The results were reported in terms of
corneometric units (arbitrary units) as recommended [9] and also in term of
percentage increase to see the different effects of the actives.
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For long-term moisturizing efficacy, the measurement was obtained at least 8-12
hours after the last product application as recommended [7]. Normally, in use test
requires at least 2 applications per day for example once in the morning and once at
night. In this study, besides the placebo as comparison, an area of the upper arm
was also used as a control (untreated) throughout the duration of the study. It was
observed, the basal skin moisture of the upper arm was slightly higher than the lower
arm. However, statistically it was no significant difference. The same was observed
in the previous study to find an alternative site for long-term efficacy [10].
CONCLUSION
The moisturising efficacy results of the NMF showed that 1) in PCA structures, the
hydrophilic-lipophilic balance does not influence skin moisturisation performances 2)
the free OH group in lactate is important in determining its activity 3) the importance
of selecting the right concentration in order to increase the driving force for skin
penetration in ionic species and 4) moisturizing actives require adequate
investigation on their use concentration for getting the required efficacy.
It is a common practice to include humectants such as glycerol in the skin care
formulation as it helps to moisturize the skin. Depending on the cost of the NMF,
formulators have the choice to choose which NMF to enhance and optimize the
moisturizing efficacy of a skin care formulation containing glycerol. As observed from
the long-term efficacy, @1% active NMF can enhance 3 times the moisturizing
efficacy of a formulation containing 3% glycerol.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thank the Director General of MPOB for the permission to
present this paper at IFSCC Conference 2005 and to a student trainee Wan Fei
Chooi who helped to conduct the R & D on the skin care formulation using various
NMF.
REFERENCES
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glycerin therapeutic moisturizers. Hill Top Research.
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2. BANCHONG W, ARTMANN C AND RODING J. Comparison of skin
moisturization attained by supplementing the NMF in the skin or by applying
water binding molecules on the skin surface. SOFW Journal, 126, Jahrgang 4-
2000.
3. HERVI GEOFFROY. Pyrrolidone Carboxylic Acid (PCA) and its derivatives in
Cosmetics. Parfumerie und Kosmetik, 72, Jahrgang Nr2/91.
4. RIJSBERGEN J.M. L(+) Lactic acid and Lactates - Natural Moisturizers in
cosmetics. SOFW-Journal, 126. Jahrgang 11-2000.
5. GANG C AND ZUIDHOFF H. A review of the Moisturizing Efficacy of Sodium
lactates, calcium lactates and lactic acid. Personal Care, Jan 2002, 23-26.
6. HARDING C.R., WATKINSON A AND RAWLINGS A.V. Dry skin, moisturization
and corneodesmolysis. Int. J. Cos. Science, 22, 21-52, 2000
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corneum hydration: electrical methods. Skin Res. Technol: 3:126-132.
8. ROGIERS AV (1990). Capacitance and TEWL measurements – the need for
standardization. Cosmetic & Toiletries: 115.
9. WILHELM KP (1998). Possible pitfalls in hydration measurement. In: Elsner P,
Barel AO, Berardesca E, Gabard B, Serup J. Skin Bioengineering: Techniques
and applications in dermatology, Basel: Karger, Vol. 26, 223-234,
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lower and upper arms. Paper presented at 7th Scientific Conference 2005 of the
Asian Society of Cosmetic Scientists (ASCS), Bangkok 6-9 Mac 2005.
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Results of short-term moisturizing efficacy
Figure 1a - Skin moisture (c.u.) @1% active Figure 1b - Skin moisture (%)@1% active
Figure 2a - Skin moisture (c.u.)@3% active Figure 2b - Skin moisture (%) @3% active
Figure 3a - Skin moisture (c.u.) @5% active Figure 3b - Skin moisture (%) @5% active
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Results of long-term moisturizing efficacy
Figure 4a - Skin moisture (c.u.) @1% active Figure 4b - Skin moisture (%) @1% active
Figure 5a - Skin moisture (c.u.) @3% active Figure 5b - Skin moisture (%) @3% active
Figure 6a - Skin moisture (c.u.) @5% active Figure 6b - Skin moisture (%) @5% active
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