Stem cells are being hailed for their use in multiple aspects of wellbeing, but now they may be able to improve your anti-ageing wellness. However, this discovery was a bit of an accident. Sydney cosmetic doctor and stem cell clinician Ralph Bright explains, ‘I’ll never forget the woman whose knee was injected with stem cells to repair it, and came back two months later saying her skin on her face was smoother and more elastic. We hadn’t touched her face.’
Now, stem cell derivatives are starting to be used in a new generation of face creams, but what makes them so effective? According to Sydney surgeon Bill Lyon, ‘many people believe stem cells are the holy grail in many aspects of medicine with excellent results. In animal experiments, stem cells have been shown to improve skin quality and integrity. They are thought to replenish the aged cells and tissues within the skin.’ This was the thought behind Luminesce, a range of creams and serums – created by US cosmetic company Jeunesse – which contain cytokines. These are the stem-cell derived messengers that communicate between stem cells within your body.
Brand spokesperson Vincent Giampapa, a New York plastic surgeon and anti-ageing doctor, comments, ‘Growth factors or cytokines are the cell’s language. In other words, the way thousands of cells communicate allowing them to do one vital function – repair and regenerate the tissue in the body. These cytokines are packed with vitamins and nutrients to nourish skin, and send signals to the body to slow down the signs of ageing . After extraction, the stem cells go through an extensive process to isolate the cytokines. These are in the creams. It is important to understand these stem cells and their receptors are extracted from the fat cells of grown adults. Human adult fat cells are packed with stem cells.’
Dr Bright notes, ‘You cannot keep stem cells active in a cream, so the use of cytokines, the cell’s messengers if you like is the closest we can get in a cream.’ However, Dr Lyon is sceptical. ‘Cosmeceuticals with stem cell extracts will work as well as any other product as long as the base ingredients are effective,’ he says. ‘The problem with any topically derived cream is getting the ingredients through the barrier [the skin] unchanged and still active. If this has been achieved they could be effective.’