AGI study proves anti-aging ingredient efficacy

The New York-based company, which markets Remergent, a skin care line containing EGT, says that the study shows that EGT protects against oxidative damage and acts as a more powerful antioxidant by reducing UV-induced hydrogen peroxide. The data was presented at the 68^th​ Annual Meeting of the Society for Investigative Dermatology, held in Los Angeles last week. The company's previously published clinical studies on EGT have claimed to prove that the technology can help to improve skin brightness, too. "We are very excited that this clinical work demonstrates that OCTN-1 plays a vital role in the active accumulation and utilization of EGT for the treatment of photodamaged skin,"​ said Daniel Yarosh, PhD, President, AGI Dermatics. "This data confirms that L-ergothioneine is a natural part of the skin's antioxidant system." ​ The company says that EGT is an exclusive and maximized natural amino acid that has been used in topical applications, a number of which are marketed by the company. The most recent study concerning EGT focuses on the role it has in relation to its receptor and transporter, OCTN-1, which has been identified as being responsible for the intracellular accumulation of the antioxidant. The results indicate that the OCTN-1 protein isoforms were equally detectable in both human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEK) and human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF) that were analyzed as part of the study. Further to this, any differences in production of OCTN-1 and to assure production of OCTN-1 in both NHEK and NHDF, the study also looked at the transcription of the OCTN-1 mRNA into OCTN-1 protein. The results indicated OCTN-1 protein isoforms were more abundant in NHDF than NHEK, though still detectable in NHEK, the company says. The study results also demonstrated that NHDF treated with EGT had significantly lower levels of hydroxyl radicals over a one-hour period than those treated with idebenone, a synthesized form of CoQ10 that is thought to exhibit strong anti-oxidant properties and is also widely used in topical anti-aging products.