UAE scientists develop 'more natural' collagen for ridding you of wrinkles

UAE University researchers find natural collagen to be used in cosmetic treatments.

Dr Hassan Galadari at his clinic as he prepares an injection of polycaprolactone. Photo Courtesy of Dr Hassan Galadari

Researchers in the UAE have a developed a more natural form of collagen that can be used to fill lines and lasts twice as long as the best products on the market.

It is the first cosmetic-surgery related research conducted at UAE University in Al Ain, based on a molecule discovered by a Dutch medical company.

The product, polycaprolactone, enhances the formulation of collagen, stimulating the body to create more of its own to make the results more natural, said Dr Hassan Galadari, assistant professor in dermatology.

The current "gold standard" is hyaluronic acid, a substance found in skin and joints and used mostly as a dermal filler for cheeks and lips.

Staff at the university's medical school and Tawam Hospital with well-formed smile lines were used to study the efficacy of the injections.

The research was conducted over the past nine months on 40 people, with 32 injected on both sides of their faces, one side with hyaluronic acid and the other with polycaprolactone.

"The split-face testing has not been done before," Dr Galadari said.

The results indicate there is "definitely a difference between the new and old product", said Dr Galadari. "The new product lasts longer and has a much better aesthetic result".

Both products are bioresorbable - meaning they dissolve on their own into the body - but Dr Galadari said the polycaprolactone lasted longer.

"It's more cost effective as well as looking better for the patient," he said.

A syringe of the old product cost Dh1,500 compared with Dh2,000 for the new one. "The old one lasted six to nine months but this one is more like one to one-and-a-half years," Dr Galadari said. For patients, he said, there were more pros than cons.

"The product feels much softer in the face and the way you tailor the longevity of it is you don't increase the density of it but you make the molecule chain longer," he said.

Trials of the substance suggest there is a little more swelling.

"We're trying to tweak the molecules to decrease this now and you can choose molecules with the longest chain," he said.

Such trials are usually industry driven but Dr Galadari has funded his own research, with the ethical approval of the university's research board.

"Someone's got to do these clinical trials, so it's much better to be done by the university than a private company which has a conflict of interest," he said. "It's opened up a new avenue for the university."

Antoinette Cano, 42, a medical secretary at the university, was one of the volunteers. "I trusted Dr Galadari," she said. "It was also something I felt I needed and it definitely made a difference."

She felt some pain for about three hours after the injections but there was no swelling. "I'd think about doing it again if I felt I really needed it."

Dr Ahmed Al Marzoqui, assistant dean of the medical college, said such research was "exciting" for the institution, which is highly active in areas such as cancer research.

"We always encourage new kinds of research and looking at things in new ways, asking new kinds of questions," he said. "Self-funding is the most important part of research. If you want to show your data is valid it can't be commercially driven.

"That's why it goes through our human-ethics committee ... to ensure research meets internationally acceptable standards."