Retinol on Human Skin Aging in East Asian Descent

March 25, 2019 updated by: Anne Chang, Stanford University

Discovery of Effects of Retinol on Human Skin Aging in Individuals of East Asian Descent

There has been increasing evidence for different rates of natural aging in humans and one of the best organs to study human aging is skin. Studies have demonstrated anti-aging effects of topical agents (such as creams, gels, lotions, or ointments) and one of them, retinol or vitamin A, was shown to decrease fine wrinkling in skin of older individuals. Additionally, studies of retinol in humans have largely occurred in white populations and so this study aims to focus on skin aging in individuals of East Asian descent as they represent a majority of the world population. This study aims to better characterize the molecular basis of rejuvenation effects and to potentially discover new topical agents with similar and/or more effective preservation of skin youthfulness.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
110

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Redwood City, California, United States, 94603
        • Stanford Dermatology

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • able to provide written informed consent
  • older group: age between 50 and 75 years
  • young group: age 18 to 25 years
  • all four grandparents of Han Chinese, Japanese, Korean descent
  • body mass index within normal or overweight range
  • no history of weight loss of >20 lbs within past 5 years

Exclusion Criteria:

  • skin condition in the areas of skin biopsy that would obscure results of analysis
  • topical creams or treatment to arms 2 weeks prior to study baseline visit
  • individuals with known hypersensitivity to retinoid class of agents (older group only)
  • prior anti-aging treatments to arms including retinol, microdermabrasion within 2 weeks of baseline visit
  • prior laser therapy or surgical procedure to arms
  • prior radiation or other trauma (extensive burns or abrasions) to arm skin
  • hormone-based therapy within 4 weeks of enrollment

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Other: Older Group Ages 55-75
Active and Placebo. Participants received retinol lotion on one arm and placebo to match on the other arm.
Drug: Retinol
Retinol in the form of vitamin A lotion
Drug: Placebo
Placebo of Retinol
No Intervention: Young Group Ages 18-25
Participants in the group will give tissue sample only for comparison.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Genes Upregulated or Downregulated as Assessed by RNA Sequencing (Older Group, Retinol Versus Placebo)
Time Frame: Week 12
Differences in transcript levels are reported as the number that were upregulated or downregulated in the participant's retinol-treated arm versus their placebo-treated arm.
Week 12
Number of Genes Upregulated or Downregulated as Assessed by RNA Sequencing (Younger Group Versus Older Group as Baseline)
Time Frame: Week 1
Differences in transcript levels are reported as the number of genes that were upregulated or downregulated in the Younger Group participant tissue samples, as compared to a baseline provided by tissue samples collected from the Older Group (prior to their treatment).
Week 1

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Transepidermal Water Loss
Time Frame: Baseline; Week 12
Transepidermal Water Loss of arm skin was measured in units of grams/hours/meters squared.
Baseline; Week 12
Severity of Arm Skin Wrinkling
Time Frame: Baseline; Week 12
Wrinkling was assessed by the investigator using a 10-point Likert scale (range 0 to 9, lower scores correspond to less wrinkling).
Baseline; Week 12
Elasticity on Arm Skin
Time Frame: Baseline; week 12
Elasticity was assessed using cutometry (R2 curve) as millimeters per second
Baseline; week 12
Count of Participants With Skin and Subcutaneous Adverse Events as a Measure of Type and Severity of Adverse Events
Time Frame: Baseline through week 12
Skin and subcutaneous adverse events were assessed for this outcome and documented and scored according to CTCAE version 4.03.
Baseline through week 12

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Stanford University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
March 9, 2018

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
March 9, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
February 26, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 14, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
September 20, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
April 16, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 25, 2019

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
March 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 33762

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

IPD Plan Description

No current plan to share data.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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