One of the newest skingredients in mainstream dermatology, as opposed to natural dermatology, is the moisturiser hyaluronic acid.
This molecule is a large carbohydrate in the skin that stores water and directs numerous structural proteins. Hyaluronic acid’s precise role in acne is unknown, but immediately, there’s one promising connection.
You might be aware that some strains of p.acnes bacteria (AKA acne bacteria) are actually far deadlier than others. For example, one study found that 84% of strain 4 came from acne patients, while 99% of strain 6 came from clear-skinned patients.
Their dark powers are also known, as p.acnes subtype 1a secrets far more lipases, compounds which digest fats in the skin and churn out inflammatory by-products. The deadly strains also produce more antigens, substances which our immune system specifically attacks…
…and compared to beneficial strains of p.acnes, the malicious strains churn out far more hyaluronidase. That’s an enzyme which breaks down hyaluronic acid, in order to digest it for the bacteria’s own energy.
The deadliest p.acnes strains are confirmed to lower your hyaluronic acid levels. So could this moisturising marvel have an overlooked connection to your acne?
What is hyaluronic acid?
Hyaluronic acid sounds like the latest miracle chemical invented in a high tech lab when you first hear it, but it’s actually as natural as can be. Hyaluronic acid is a glycosaminoglycan, a structural molecule in human skin.
50% in human beings is located in the skin, with varying quantities in joints, nerves and eyes as well. It’s manufactured by hyaluronic acid synthases, and once in place, controls numerous aspects of wound healing, elasticity, and skin structure. Most important, however, is hyaluronic acid’s pivotal role in hydration, as a natural humectant.
Read Annihilate Your Acne – learn how to clear your skin permanently
While the equally important collagen constructs the skin itself, keeping it sturdy and strong, hyaluronic acid is designed to lock moisture into the skin. Hyaluronic acid molecules are able to hold 1000 times more water relative to their size; 0.03 ounces (1 gram) can carry a colossal six litres of water. This seemingly impossible figure is more disproportionate than any other biological substance.
Hyaluronic acid is perhaps nature’s ultimate solution for plumpness, firmness, texture, and a silky smooth appearance. Grapeseed oil and jojoba oil might provide moisture itself, but hyaluronic acid is the essential molecule for storing moisture in the skin.
Hyaluronic acid – the reason you look young (or old)
You might have predicted, therefore, that hyaluronic acid is heavily involved with ageing. One of the main properties of older skin is its dryness and loss of plumpness, and the depletion of hyaluronic acid is partially behind this. Levels remain constant in the dermis, the second layer of skin, but enter freefall in the epidermis, the outermost layer of skin, visible to all the world. The reason for the difference in layers is unknown.
What’s more, the size of individual hyaluronic acid polymers shrinks with age, preventing them from retaining as much moisture. Starting at 25, you literally lose the water containers on your face.
Recommended – 6 vitamins and minerals which could finally clear your acne
External forces then accelerate the depletion further, as UV radiation can decrease hyaluronic acid in the skin, over decades of harsh sun exposure. This partly contributes to the dry and weathered looking skin of the photoaged (like an old Texan rancher).
Hyaluronic acid levels can decline to 5% of youthful levels in elderly people. Along with plummeting elastin, this is also why the skin loses its elasticity.
Consider the case of Yuzurihara village in Japan. The locals eat an extremely rich diet in natural hyaluronic acid, featuring rare potato-related vegetables like satoimo and imoji (not emoji). Yuzurihara residents are more likely to live to age 85 than anywhere in the United States. Their hair and skin look astonishingly youthful, and the overall appearance of 80 and 90 year olds is years behind where it should be. Yuzurihara has been dubbed “the village of long life”, and it’s all thanks to hyaluronic acid.
Hyaluronic acid also has mysterious connections to wound healing, as during the earliest healing phases, sudden and massive accumulations of HA occur. And the main thing to remember – we only know a fraction of this carbohydrate’s powers.
Hyaluronic acid deficiency may be everywhere
The next big question is whether hyaluronic acid differs from person to person outside of age. Otherwise, this is just a mildly interesting science lesson. Hyaluronic acid has a very high turnover in the bloodstream, with a half life of 3 to 5 minutes, 1 to 3 weeks in cartilage, and less than a day in skin.
Therefore, there’s plenty of opportunity for your levels to vary, and one factor is free radical activity.
Ordinarily, the natural degradation of hyaluronic acid is controlled by hyaluronidase, the enzyme which certain malicious p.acnes strains churn out. There’s several forms of this enzyme: HL3 degrades hyaluronic acid in joint cartilage, while HL2 degrades small amounts in the skin and HL1 degrades the bulk in skin.
This is a healthy and natural process, in moderation, but free radicals are also proven to destroy hyaluronic acid. Free radicals generated by harsh UV radiation are specifically proven to destroy it (study). Air pollution and smoking are confirmed factors, and these are notorious free radical sources. In the smokers, the depletion in HA was said to be a “rapid phenomenon”.
Given how obscure the p.acnes strains connection was, I would bet my piggybank that there’s numerous hidden factors affecting hyaluronic levels.
The connection to acne
Firstly, the moisturising properties themselves will help with acne. Dry, cracked and weak skin is bad news: it’s much more vulnerable to microfissures, tiny breaches in skin tissue. Alongside the first repair squad comes a bunch of pro-inflammatory chemicals, which are intended to helpfully break down the toxic tissue, but actually inflame your acne further. During a dry and flaky phase, you may have witnessed this scientific process first hand.
Secondly, there’s limited but highly promising evidence for free radical reduction. The structure of hyaluronic acid molecules basically consists of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and D-glucuronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is a particularly massive structural compound, size which is vital for its water-holding properties. The glucuronic acid in the centre of the HA molecule has been found to physically trap free radicals roaming around the skin, like a Venus fly trap.
Read this article and learn why vitamin A is great for oily skin
Even better, hyaluronic acid isn’t found inside the cells; it exists as the single greatest component of the extracellular matrix (ECM) which sits between cells. Hyaluronic acid forms a thick, viscous meshwork around cells, and physically decreases the movement of rampaging free radicals. Hyaluronic acid is yet another part of your natural antioxidant defences, but a completely unique one.
The benefit is that free radical overload is one of the two root causes of acne. The wound healing qualities of hyaluronic acid will also help, by accelerating the healing of old pimples.
Elsewhere, we can only speculate, but scientists themselves have admitted that “much work needs to be done to elucidate the multifaceted role of HA“.
But are there any effective strategies?
Despite its potential for acne, the prospects for hyaluronic acid products are much murkier, because it’s widely doubted whether hyaluronic acid even penetrates the skin.
Your body is designed to manufacture hyaluronic acid – will applying it work? With collagen, eating vitamin C, glycine, or even applying indirect remedies like tamanu oil is dramatically more effective than applying raw collagen itself.
Hyaluronic acid has a unique problem too: that the molecular size is far too high. In fact, hyaluronic acid is a rare structural component which is manufactured outside of cells rather than inside, because of its gargantuan size.
Hyaluronic acid cannot penetrate the skin deeply; it simply rests on the surface. Once there, hyaluronic acid can actually drain the moisture from your skin, particularly in hot equatorial climates, where the scorching heat of the atmosphere depletes the HA containers and forces them to retrieve moisture from the skin cells they’re resting on.
Applying hyaluronic acid to your skin will simply make it look moist, rather than truly moisturise it.
Additionally, hyaluronic acid has grown popular for filling acne scars lately, relying on its plumping up properties. However, these treatments rely heavily on injection, and must be reinjected every 3 to 12 months, since your body will metabolise and remove the foreign injection eventually. There’s no wider benefit for plumpness or hydration either; just an accumulation in certain sites. Not to mention that injections are highly unnatural and inconvenient.
Hyaluronic acid creams have been shown to reduce solar keratoses, unsightly accumulations of keratin proteins on the skin. They might therefore improve some skin conditions on the outermost layers, which could easily translate to acne if there’s a more direct power which we’re unaware of.
Overall though, topical hyaluronic acid isn’t where the potential lies.
So what is the best strategy?
So far, the most proven hyaluronic acid strategy is supplements themselves.
This study on 35 patients found that HA supplements significantly increased moisture retention in the skin. Their skin smoothened out nicely, while existing wrinkles were erased into nothingness. This study from 2014 tested patients with dry skin and observed a significant rise in moisture.
In both studies, the oral supplements correlated closely with extra hyaluronic acid formation in the skin. The HA doesn’t literally flow through the stomach, into your bloodstream and settle in the skin; instead, existing hyaluronic acid contains the exact nutrients your body needs to manufacture a new batch.
Excellent news then: you don’t have to pilgrimage to Japan and start a new life in Yuzurihara village. You can take a supplement, and a great one is this Pure Encapsulations Hyaluronic Acid.
It’s also confirmed that hyaluronic acid increases in the presence of retinoic acid, a topical form of vitamin A. Ensure that your dietary vitamin A intake is sufficient.
As for indirect topical strategies, hyaluronic acid is even less understood, because of the industry being distracted with the ingredient itself. There are no secret oils and plants like with shea butter for collagen – yet.
Things are slowly picking up steam. For example, it’s now confirmed that the protein complex called transforming growth factor (TGF) activates hyaluronic acid formation. In this article, we discussed how royal jelly and lavender oil specifically increase collagen via activating TGF – will they work wonders for hyaluronic acid too? More hints like this will doubtlessly appear soon. We can also speculate that vitamin A-rich topical treatments like sea buckthorn and rosehip seed oil will succeed.
Your last priority is dodging the confirmed villains like cigarette smoke, air pollution and free radicals. Finally, there’s the question of those malicious p.acnes strains. P.acnes itself can be dealt with by unclogging pores to deprive them of a home, or by using raw honey or tea tree oil. But how to target the evil strains specifically is currently another mystery in the universe of acne.
Conclusion
Hyaluronic acid is the single most important compound for skin moisture and hydration. This filters through massively to skin tone, texture and glow.
How much do you stand to benefit? It depends on how common deficiency is. I would bet that deficiency is fairly common, given how heavily the confirmed villains like free radicals and air pollution plague our civilisation today.
The very worst family of p.acnes bacteria, strain subset 1a, is proven to pump out higher levels of hyaluronidase, the enzyme which breaks down HA. What is p.acnes’ intention? Who knows, but that fact alone is sufficient reason to watch any developments with hyaluronic acid like a hawk.
NEXT: forget creams and moisturisers – discover the ultimate acne-clearing diet
Thanks for reading!
On Hyaluronic Acid supplements, I trying to vet if the promote / cause the spread if cancer for those that have cancer or a family history of cancer. Hope this question doesn’t seem to out there. I see some articles claiming association and then there are the PubMeb references which are confusing to follow. Thanks.
After investigating it is a worry. The evidence is extremely mixed about whether the doses in supplements would cause harm or whether hyaluronic acid even affects more than a small proportion of cancer cases, but we can’t ignore the real evidence just because it looks amazing for skincare. We’ll have to wait and see. There are no firm answers yet. At the moment I wouldn’t recommend banishing hyaluronic acid completely but if you had to focus on one skin building block I would choose collagen. A topic for a future article. That said, I highly doubt that running a two month experiment with HA would instantly trigger cancer, but then again, if it worked wonders, you’d automatically be tempted into carrying on forever.
Aren’t omega 3 supplements or fish the better and more established alternative to boost skin moisture and hydration?