The Role of a Natural Mollusk Egg-Derived Ingredient in Facial Appearance.

New cosmeceutical ingredients that improve skin appearance are of interest to the dermatologist. Cryptomphalus aspersa is a snail raised on farms in Spain for its mucinous secretions and eggs. These natural products have been demonstrated in vitro to trigger mesenchymal stem cell differentiation, promote dermal fibroblast and keratinocyte migration, prevent keratinocyte aging, prevent oxidative damage, stimulate the extracellular matrix, and regulate MMPs. This 12-week study enrolled 40 male and female subjects age 40-70 years of Fitzpatrick skin types I-IV with moderate to severe facial aging and Rao-Goldman scores of 4-5 who applied an eye and face anti-aging cream twice daily containing a mollusk egg extract. Dermatologist investigator, subject, and elasticity assessments were performed at baseline, week 8, and week 12. At week 12, the investigator rated a 53% reduction in skin roughness (P less than 0.001), 26% improvement in skin brightness (P less than 0.001), and 12% reduction in skin dyspigmentation (P=0.033). The noninvasive elastometer measurements demonstrated an increase in skin elasticity at week 8 of 11% with a continuing elasticity increase at week 12 of 39% (P less than 0.001). The formulation studied included moisturizing, emollient, film-forming, and retinoid ingredients in addition to the mollusk egg extract to produce the clinical improvement.

J Drugs Dermatol. 2017;16(7):678-681.

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