Pycnogenol® For A Fair Skin

When people see us, they look at our outer cover: the skin. The skin is more than an organ covering our body and shielding us against harmful environmental influences. The skin is an unadulterated image of ourselves: it reveals our age, our health, our emotions, how well we care for ourselves and who we are.

The desire for a young, healthy, fresh-looking, beautiful and fair skin is as old as mankind. Since then considerable progress has been made to defy the feared imprints on our skin. Among the most appalling for women are pigmentary disorders. Insidiously, these brownish spots or patches often develop particularly in the face of women, and much less frequently on other parts of the body. This is most disturbing as it requires a professionally performed make-up to disguise the pigmented area in the face.

The medical term for this over-pigmentation (hyperpigmentation) of certain areas of the skin is chloasma, or melasma. Dermatologists have noticed that this phenomenon often occurs to young mothers or women taking contraceptive hormones. Moreover, it has been noted that oxidative stress is involved in over-production of the skin pigments. This is the reason why dermatologists frequently suggest to take high amounts of antioxidants to neutralise the free radicals in the skin, thereby reducing the pigmentation intensity. In their dispair many women do not refrain from applying very aggressive chemical peeling agents to their skin, even though some are known to cause irreversible skin damage.

Research shows that this aggressive treatment is totally unnecessary, says Dr. Ni of "The Chinese Academy of Traditional Medicine" in Beijing. Dr. Ni and his coworkers have carried out a clinical trial with 30 women suffering from over-pigmentation of some areas of their skin. They were treated with tablets containing an extract called Pycnogenol®, which is prepared from the bark of a rare tree growing only in France. Pycnogenol® was previously shown to be the most powerful natural antioxidant, so powerful it can even protect and recycle used-up common antioxidants, vitamin C and E. Dr. Ni discovered that 75 mg Pycnogenol® per day for 1 month significantly reduced the size of the over-pigmented skin area. And, more importantly, the pigmentation of the skin was getting significantly lighter after treatment with Pycnogenol®. Dr. Ni concludes that Pycnogenol® is ideal for treatment of hyperpigmentation, particularly as Pycnogenol® is safe and no side-effects occured.

Pycnogenol® is reknown since years as the food supplement of choice for a healthy and beautiful skin. The secret of Pycnogenol® is that it is more than a very powerful antioxidant. Pycnogenol® binds and protects collagen fibres against degradation. This keeps the skin taut and helps to prevent formation of wrinkles. Clinical studies have revealed that Pycnogenol® supports a good blood circulation in the skin. A better supply with oxygen and nutrients and removal of waste products replenishes the skin with moisture, and lets the skin look tight and fresh.

1. Ni Z, Mu Y, Gulati O. Treatment of melasma with Pycnogenol®. Phytother Res, accepted for publication.

The first "laugh lines" appearing in our face don't make us worry yet. Though we surely follow the development when looking into the mirror. The question we then ask ourselves is "do I need to already do something". The progression towards deep lines radiating down from the corners of the eyes and on both sides of the mouth is just a question of time. How long this takes depends on the efforts we take to prevent supply shortages of all that our skin needs to stay healthy and juvenile.

The way every day life lets our skin look worn-out are complex. The sun's ultraviolet rays create a burst of free radicals in the skin. The same rays that force our skin to tan break down and weld-together collagen and elastin, elastic fibers that hold skin cells together. It doesn't take a sunburn for this process, a few minutes exposure is enough to cause skin cells to make enzymes that break down collagen and elastin, causing skin to wrinkle and sag.

Free radicals do not only originate from the environment but are a by-product of cells' metabolism. These harmful molecules need to be cleared up before they can burden skin cells.

A stressful unhealthy lifestyle causes constriction of fine blood vessels in the skin. The skin is insufficiently supplied with oxygen and nutrients and not detoxified properly, it dries out. Sometimes these fragile capillaries even break, causing red blotches.

There are plenty of good cremes and lotions available to bathe the skin in nourishing vitamins, constituents to combat free radicals and to moisturize the skin. Yet, this addresses only one, the outer side of the skin. The importance of the interior of our body gets mercilessly visible, when we have sinned: A stressful day at the job, little sleep, a few drinks, unhealthy deep-frozen food. The skin crucially depends on fine, barely visible blood capillaries to bring in nutrients, water, oxygen and remove waste products. In this respect the skin is an organ like others of our body, with the exception that it happens to be our visible outer barrier. The key to a well performing organ is to make sure it gets what it needs. This cannot be compensated by cremes or lotions.

The amazing action of Pycnogenol® begins with the relaxation of tiny blood vessels in the skin, restoring a good blood circulation. With abundance of water and oxygen and removal of waste products, life is brought back to the skin. You can actually see that the skin being replenished with moisture, looking tight and fresh.

But Pycnogenol® doesn't stop here: It binds and protects collagen and elastin, soft and resilient proteins that support the skin and keep it taut. Enzymes and free radicals can no longer break down collagen and elastin fibres, the process enabling development of wrinkles. Moreover, Pycnogenol® supports renewal of collagen fibres letting skin regain its firmness and elasticity. Pycnogenol gives stability to fragile capillaries in the skin, stopping them from causing blotches.

The minute you start using Pycnogenol®, the ageing process of the skin will be defied. Pycnogenol® is one of the most powerful natural antioxidants currently known, far more powerful than vitamins C and E. In fact, Pycnogenol® even recycles and protects used-up vitamins C and E, extending their activity.

The skin ages because the damage caused by free radicals piles up over the years. Degenerative changes begin slowly but surely, leaving an indelible imprint on the face that, sooner or later, becomes noticeable. Pycnogenol® brings this process to a halt by clearing up free radicals, no matter whether they result from sunlight, environmental pollutants or cellular metabolism.

A californian clinical study published this year has shown that Pycnogenol® helps to prevent sunburn and photoageing. Pycnogenol® extinguishes free radicals developing in response to light-exposure before any damage can be done to collagen and skin cells. Moreover, it was discovered that Pycnogenol®'s action is not restricted to neutralising UV-induced free radicals developing in the skin: Pycnogenol® anti-inflammatory action diminishes further damage caused by activated immune cells to the skin. This does not imply that it is safe to expose yourself to broad mid-day sun when you take Pycnogenol®. Pycnogenol® is no sun-block substitute, but it considerably helps your skin to cope with the sunlight-burden.

Pycnogenol® is also able to correct an over-pigmentation of the skin, medically termed melasma or chloasma. This is a condition frequently experienced by women: Small skin areas which are darker than the surrounding, and to make things worse it predominantly affects the face. Taking Pycnogenol® lets these spots shrink and get lighter too.

Pycnogenol® also has a moderate anti-inflammatory action which is often helpful in cases of minor irregularities of the skin.

Looking as good as you possibly can, no matter what your age, doesn't need to remain a dream: The tool that can make it happen is at your disposal.

1. Hagerman AE, Butler LG. The specificity of proanthocyanidin-protein interactions. J Biol Chem 256: 4494-4497, 1981.
2. Fitzpatrick DF, Bing B, Rohdewald P. Endothelium-dependent vascular effects of Pycnogenol®. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 32: 509-515, 1998.
3. Ni Z, Mu Y, Gulati O. Treatment of melasma with Pycnogenol®. Phytother Res, accepted for publication.
4. Packer L, Rimbach G, Virgili F. Antioxidant activity and biologic properties of a procyanidin-rich extract from pine (Pinus maritima) bark, Pycnogenol®. Free Rad Biol Med 27(5/6): 704-724, 1999.
5. Rihn B, Saliou C, Bottin MC, Keith G, Packer L. From ancient remedies to modern therapeutics: Pine bark uses in skin disorders revisited. Phytother Res 15: 76-78, 2001.
6. Saliou C, Rimbach G, Moini H, McLaughlin L, Hosseini S, Lee J, Watson RR, Packer L. Solar ultraviolet-induced erythema in human skin and nuclear factor-kappa-B-dependent gene expression in keratinocytes are modulated by a French maritime pine bark extract. Free Rad Biol Med 30(2): 154-160, 2001.
7. Tixier JM, Godeau G, Robert AM, Hornebeck W. Evidence by in vivo and in vitro studies that binding of Pycnogenol to elastin affects its rate of degradation by elastase. Biochem Pharmacol 33: 3933-3939, 1984.

Dr. Lester Packer of the University of California (Berkeley USA) has discovered the mechanism how Pycnogenol®, the famous French maritime pine bark extract, may act to improve psoriasis and other dermal disorders. Since years people with psoriasis have reported that the occurence of the itching red blotches was dramatically reduced when they took Pycnogenol®. But until now, it was not clear how Pycnogenol® does it.

Dr. Packer pinpointed the action for Pycnogenol®'s help for skin disorders in the genes of human skin cells. The skin of patients with psoriasis and various other dermatoses have high levels of particular proteins called calgranulins. These proteins are typically associated with inflammatory conditions, prevalent in various skin disorders. According to Dr. Packer, Pycnogenol® would dramatically decrease (nearly 22 times) the activation of genes in skin cells encoding these unfavourable proteins. In consequence, dermal inflammations are counteracted and skin conditions are brought back to normal, argues Dr. Packer.

This result is an agreement with a recent clinical study conducted by Dr. Ronald Watson (University of Arizona, Tucson) and published together with Dr. Packer. In this study it was shown that human volunteers irradiated with UV light were more resistant against getting sunburnt when they took Pycnogenol®. Exposure of the skin to UV-light causes production of harmful free radicals, which are quickly removed by Pycnogenol®. But more than that, cells of the skin were prevented from initiating an inflammation by Pycnogenol®, thus preventing further harm to the skin. This is how Pycnogenol® prevents the process known as photo-ageing of the skin.

Pycnogenol® is among the most powerful antioxidants, but unlike the multitude of other antioxidants, Pycnogenol® provides immediately visible benefits to the consumer. The current studies of Dr. Packer point at the value of Pycnogenol® for a normal, beautiful and healthy skin.

1. Rihn B, Saliou C, Bottin MC, Keith G, Packer L. From ancient remedies to modern therapeutics: Pine bark uses in skin disorders revisited. Phytother Res 15: 76-78, 2001.
2. Saliou C, Rimbach G, Moini H, McLaughlin L, Hosseini S, Lee J, Watson RR, Packer L. Solar ultraviolet-induced erythema in human skin and nuclear factor-kappa-B-dependent gene expression in keratinocytes are modulated by a French maritime pine bark extract. Free Rad Biol Med 30(2): 154-160, 2001.