CBD in Effect: Correlating In vitro and Ex vivo Skin Benefits via Cosmetics & Toiletries

January 21, 2020 – Rachel Grabenhofer

It’s been debated whether functional claims for CBD in skin care, such as for soothing, anti-acne and other benefits, hold any water. It’s even been suggested that marketers promote products based on the inclusion of CBD or hemp ingredients, rather than anecdotal reports of efficacy. But new evidence from Genemarkers could change this direction.

During the SCC Annual Meeting, held Dec. 17 and 18, 2019, in NYC, Anna Langerveld, Ph.D., of Genemarkers LLC, presented the results of a study performed to correlate gene expression changes in vitro with an ex vivo skin tissue system. According to the researchers, most previous studies have been carried out using monolayer cell cultures with a single cell type, or using consumer-based surveys.

Previous studies using 2D cells have shown changes in biological mechanisms ranging from the regulation of inflammation, via NRF2, NFKB and inflammasome pathways; to melanoge­nesis, cell prolifer­ation, apoptosis and keratinocyte differen­tiation. Here, gene expression changes in an in vitro skin model containing keratinocytes and fibroblasts were compared with effects observed in adult human abdominal skin explants.

The Study

In vitro: Mircroarray analyses were conducted following the application of 5 mg/mL of CBD isolate at 3 hr, 6 hr, 24 hr and 48 hr. Total changes observed were 54, 84, 537 and 1,253 at these time points, respectively. Researchers noted the genetic expression changes at 24 hr and 48 hr were not only most prominent, but consistent with known CBD functions.

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