Improving Skin Hydration and Age-related Symptoms by Oral Administration of Wheat Glucosylceramides and Digalactosyl Diglycerides: A Human Clinical Study

Abstract

Ceramides are known to play a key role in the skin’s barrier function. An age-dependent decrease in ceramides content correlates with cutaneous clinical signs of dryness, loss of elasticity, and increased roughness. The present placebo-controlled clinical study aims to evaluate if an oral supplementation with glucosylceramides (GluCers) contained in a wheat polar lipids complex (WPLC) was able to improve such skin conditions. Sixty volunteers presenting dry and wrinkled skin were supplemented during 60 days with either a placebo or a WPLC extract in oil or powder form (1.7 mg GluCers and 11.5 mg of digalactosyldiglycerides (DGDG)). Skin parameters were evaluated at baseline and after 15, 30, and 60 days of supplementation. Oral intake of WPLC significantly increased skin hydration (p < 0.001), elasticity, and smoothness (p < 0.001), and decreased trans epidermal water loss (TEWL) (p < 0.001), roughness (p < 0.001), and wrinkledness (p < 0.001) in both WPLC groups compared to placebo. In both WPLC treated groups, all parameters were significantly improved in a time-dependent manner compared to baseline. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the positive effect of oral supplementation with GluCers on skin parameters and could reasonably reinforce the observations made on mice that orally-supplied sphingolipids can reach the skin.

Keywords

• hydration
• skin barrier function
• anti-aging
• glucosylceramides
• food supplement
• human clinical trial