ORIGINAL ARTICLE   Free access

Esperienze Dermatologiche 2019 March;21(1):6-10

DOI: 10.23736/S1128-9155.19.00479-5

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Effects of a standardized olive (Olea Europea) fruit extract on healthy skin aging parameters

Stefano TOGNI ¹, Giada MARAMALDI ¹ ✉, Antonella RIVA ¹, Ambra CORTI ², Gianni BELCARO ³, Maria R. CESARONE ³

¹ Indena S.p.A, Milan, Italy; ² Polistudium SRL, Milan, Italy; ³ IRVINE3 Vascular Lab, Department of Medical Science, Chieti-Pescara University, Pescara, Italy

BACKGROUND: Opextan® (Indena, S.p.A., Milan, Italy) is a non-caloric standardized extract of the fruit of Olea europea, which contains high concentrations of polyphenols and the phytonutrient verbascoside. These molecules exert a potent antioxidant activity, thus playing an important role in skin health.
METHODS: In this registry study, we enrolled 67 healthy women who freely chose to receive Opextan® 300 mg daily or no specific skin oral treatment for 4 weeks. Multiple biochemical and physiological properties of the skin were assessed at baseline and after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment, including water and oil content, number of exfoliating cells, transcutaneous oxygen and carbon dioxide tension, surface hydration, and nutritional and thermoregulatory blood flow.
RESULTS: Women treated with Opextan® benefited from a progressive increase in the water and oil content of the skin, improvement in skin hydration, reduction in the number of exfoliating cells, increase in O2 tension and decrease in CO2 tension, and improvement in skin thermoregulatory and nutritive flux. The results were superior to those observed in the control group. Moreover, some preliminary analyses have shown a beneficial effect of Opextan® on blood lipid metabolism. In addition, in a smaller study conducted on ten subjects undergoing the histamine prick test, we observed that Opextan® treatment lead to a smaller lesion and fastest recovery time.
CONCLUSIONS: Overall, these results suggest that Opextan®, administered orally, is a “healthy aging” supplement, as it promotes healthy skin aging, it improves the recovery capacity of the skin and exerts some possible beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk factors.

KEY WORDS: Skin; Cosmetics; Dietary supplements; Healthy aging; Olea; Beauty