The Effect of Elasticity Improvement from Acetyl Hexapeptide-8 Ampoule on UVB-Induced Mouse Skin Damage

Acetyl hexapeptide-8 (AH-8) is a well-known component of anti-aging products. AH-8 appears in a variety of cosmetic products, its skin penetration is sparsely studied and controversially discussed. This study investigated ampoule containing AH-8 as an active ingredient. The elasticity improving effect of 3% AH-8 ampoule was tested in vivo. To test the stability of the formulated ampoules, we performed the centrifugation, cycling and measured viscosity, and pH changes. 6 weeks-old female C3H mice were purchased from Orient Bio, Korea Inc. (Seongnam, Korea). After one week of acclimatization, the mice were randomly assigned to experimental groups (n=4 for each group); Control, UVB irradiation, Vehicle ampoule, and 3% AH-8 ampoule group. Irradiated with UVB to mouse skin, then 3% AH-8 ampoule were applied into irradiated sites for 6 weeks. Changes in the amount of TGF-β1 and collagen were measured using western blot. As a result, it was confirmed that the 3% AH-8 ampoule increased the expression of TGF-β1 and collagen. In summary, we showed that AH-8 ampoule had extremely high capability of improving elasticity when compared to vehicle ampoule containing ginkgo leaf and green tea extracts. This study revealed the efficacy of AH-8 for increasing skin elasticity and anti-aging in terms of a cosmetic active ingredient.