ALASTIN Skincare | The Science of Skin

ALASTIN Skincare® Overview

The ALASTIN Skincare product line helps prepare and increase skin receptivity to procedures as well as enhancing the healing process in order to optimize the overall procedure result. The products are also designed to combat the signs of aging, and improve and maintain skin health with daily use. ALASTIN Skincare products, with proprietary TriHex Technology®, feature a patent-pending synergistic blend of potent peptides and key ingredients in a formulation designed to penetrate the skin. ALASTIN Skincare products featuring TriHex Technology are based on proprietary science designed to stimulate, strengthen and support the skin’s regenerative processes to enhance skincare procedure outcomes. When stimulated by ALASTIN Skincare products, the new skin is softer, smoother and more pliable.

In histological studies, ALASTIN Skincare products have been shown to enhance the deposition of both elastin and collagen. This demonstration of enhanced elastin deposition in histological studies has established ALASTIN Skincare as the leader among skincare lines in the area of elastin stimulation.

Importance of Elastin and Collagen

Elastin and collagen are the primary structural component proteins in the dermis. Collagen and elastin are abundant in early skin and critical for its ability to renew and regenerate. Levels of collagen and elastin begin diminishing almost immediately from birth, and by middle age, elastin replenishment is minimal.1,2,3,4

Therefore, skin becomes less and less able to naturally recycle itself and regenerate, resulting in slower wound healing and the tell-tale signs of aging, including:

Pre-procedure and aged skin often presents with the following:5

Peptides and Skin Regeneration

Peptides are small proteins naturally present in the body that direct cell signaling. Certain peptides signal the generation of collagen and elastin. Also, some have modulating and recycling properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM), enhancing the skin's own ability to generate renewed, healthy skin.

Effects of Time on the ECM

The ECM, the largest component of the dermal skin layer, is the central orchestrator of skin repair and regeneration. The ECM provides the background for cellular and matrix component signaling and cross-talk. Over time, certain factors create waste products in the ECM including:

• Extrinsic factors: sun (primary) and other environmental factors

• Intrinsic factors: genetics, aging, hormones

These waste products result in protein clumping. Protein clumps clutter the ECM, interfering with the crosstalk necessary for healthy cellular regeneration – i.e. the body’s ability to produce fresh, healthy skin.6,7,8,9,10

Skin Bed Preparation

In aged skin, collagen and elastin clumping leads to inefficient fibroblasts and compromised ECM. The strategy for reversing this long term-damage is to recycle the ECM and begin to remove the clumped protein fragments, thereby allowing natural cell signalling to occur effectively in order to stimulate regeneration of collagen and elastin.

Similar to how the chronic wound healing process requires wound bed preparation before therapeutic intervention, treatment of chronic aging of the skin benefits from a “skin bed preparation” to optimize the outcome of rejuvenation procedures and skin maintenance programs. This skin bed preparation serves to optimize procedure outcomes by creating an environment ideal for healing and regeneration.

Ideally this skin bed preparation or pre-conditioning takes place over a 2-3 week period prior to the procedure. TriHex Technology™ stimulates the clearing of the debris from the ECM, allowing the body to produce new collagen and elastin.

Skin Repair

Although many patients believe the healing process is complete within a few short weeks post-procedure, that visible healing is only on the skin’s surface. In truth, the full healing process can last well beyond the visual signs of recovery. Invasive and non-invasive procedures require specific aftercare and the healing process can last as long as 1-3 months post-treatment.

When skin is cut or injured in a surgical, ablative, laser or peel procedure, the body begins a natural process of healing, including:

• The Inflammation Phase: stabilizes the site and cleans away dead cells and any bacteria; lasts a short period of time and if prolonged, can lead to scar formation

• The Reparative Phase: skin cells multiply and initiate mobilization to close the wound and regenerate the epidermis (outer skin layer)

• The Remodeling Phase: completes the skin remodeling; can take 30-90 days or more and is marked by the formation of new layers of skin built up from within; moderation of inflammation can reduce scarring and discoloration.

Similar to how the chronic wound healing process benefits from wound bed preparation, treatment of aging of the skin may be improved with a “skin bed preparation” to optimize rejuvenation procedures and skin maintenance programs.

  1. Pickart L, Margolina A. Anti-aging Activity of the GHK Peptide – The Skin and Beyond. Journal of Aging Research & Clinical Practice 2011. Volume 1
  2. Seite S, Zucchi H, Septier D, Igondjo-Tchen S, Senni K, Godeau G. Elastin changes during chronological and photo-ageing: the important role of lysozyme. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology: JEADV 2006; 20(8): 980-7.
  3. Varani J, Dame MK, Rittie L, et al. Decreased collagen production in chronologically aged skin: roles of age-dependent alteration in fibroblast function and defective mechanical stimulation. Am J Pathol 2006; 168(6): 1861-8.
  4. Frantz, Christian, Stewart, Kathleen M, Weaver, Valerie M. The Extracellular Matrix at a glance. Journal of Cell Science 2010; 123, 4195-4200.
  5. Watt, Finoa M, Fujiwara, Hronobu. Cell-Extracellular Matrix Ineractions in Normal and Diseased Skin. Cold Springs Harb Perspect Biol 2011; 3:a0005124
  6. Ganceviciene R, Liakou AI, Theodoridis A, Makrantonaki E, Zouboulis CC. Skin anti-aging strategies. Dermato-endocrinology 2012; 4(3): 308-19
  7. Fisher GJ, Quan T, Purohit T, et al. Collagen fragmentation promotes oxidative stress and elevates matrix metalloproteinase-1 in fibroblasts in aged human skin. Am J Pathol 2009; 174(1): 101-14.
  8. Quan T, Little E, Quan H, Qin Z, Voorhees JJ, Fisher GJ. Elevated matrix metalloproteinases and collagen fragmentation in photodamaged human skin: impact of altered extracellular matrix microenvironment on dermal fibroblast function. The Journal of investigative dermatology 2013; 133(5): 1362-6.
  9. Attia-Vigneau J, Terryn C, Lorimier S, Sandre J, Antonicelli F, Hornebeck W. Regeneration of human dermis by a multi-headed peptide. The Journal of investigative dermatology 2014; 134(1): 58-67.
  10. Fligiel S, Varani J, Datta S, Kang S, Fisher G, Voorhees JJ. Collagen Degradation in Aged/Photodamaged Skin InVivo and After Exposure to Matrix Metalloproteinase-1 InVitro The Journal of investigative dermatology 2003; 120: 842-84.
  11. Adair-Kirk TL, Senior RM. Fragments of Extracellular Matrix as Mediators of Inflammation. The international journal of biochemistry & cell biology. 2008;40(6-7):1101-1110. doi:10.1016/j.biocel.2007.12.005. Philips N, Auler S, Hugo R, Gonzalez S. Beneficial regulation of matrix metalloproteinases for skin health. Enzyme research 2011;2011: 427285.