Farmacja Polska (Dec 2023)
The role of vitamin C in skin care and health
Abstract
Background. The effect of vitamin C on the skin. The skin is a protective barrier against harmful factors from the external environment, which is due to its unique structure. The skin contains vitamin C in various concentrations depending on the individual layers. Skin keratinocytes have the capacity to accumulate high concentrations of vitamin C, which may reduce inflammation caused by excessive exposure to UV irradiation. Aim of the study. The aim of the study was to systematize knowledge about the topical use of vitamin C in the care or treatment of skin defects based on a literature review and to indicate potential benefits in damages related to the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the skin aging process. Materials and methods. The literature review was performed by searching scientific databases: PubMed and Google Scholar. The search for relevant articles on the role of vitamin C in the skin was carried out using the following keywords: “vitamin C", "ascorbic acid", "magnesium ascorbyl phosphate", "ascorbyl-6-palmitate", "skin", "photoprotection", "photoaging". In order to increase the efficiency of work, the authors developed a concept of the publication that included division into subchapters that were assigned to individual authors in order to avoid duplicating information while editing the manuscript. The described methodology allowed for obtaining reliable information. Results. Vitamin C protects the keratinocyte from apoptosis and increases cell survival. It acts as an antioxidant that plays an important role by stimulating collagen synthesis and assisting in antioxidant protection against UV-induced photodamage. Vitamin C also influences gene expression of antioxidant enzymes, the organisation and accumulation of phospholipids, and promotes the formation of the stratum corneum and the differentiation of the epithelial cells in general. The provision of vitamin C to the skin greatly assists wound healing and minimises raised scar formation. Vitamin C supplementation for nutritional purposes is also important and can be combined with topical application. The effect of the comprehensive action of vitamin C is to protect tissues against oxidative damage by removing free radicals that damage the most important structures of the body: cell membranes, DNA and proteins. Conclusions. The effectiveness of vitamin C affects the condition of the skin and the rate of its aging. This study contains examples of research methods for reconstructed human epidermis or keratinocytes, but the literature review shows that these models lack other skin components such as fibroblasts, Langerhans cells, melanocytes and hair follicles. The human skin model has been developed in laboratories and is currently limited by the lack of many critical biological and structural features of the skin. Engineering a human skin equipped with, among others, into immune cells and capable of generating all components, including appendages, is a major challenge. Therefore, further research is needed to elucidate the exact mechanisms of action of vitamin C using a human skin model that containing other skin components.
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