Vitamin D as a topical treatment to protect our skin from sun damage and ageing

Psoriasis has been treated with topical vitamin D for more than 15 years. Vitiligo might be another indication for the topical application of calcitriol (the active part of vitamin D:  1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D). Dtsch Med Wochenschr published a paper in 2012 focusing on how vitamin D plays a central role in the pathogenesis of a number of inflammatory skin diseases, such as atopic eczema and psoriasis.

Dr Bikle in his 2009 paper ‘Vitamin D and The Skin’, says that numerous functions of the skin are regulated by vitamin D and/or its receptor, including the inhibition of proliferation, stimulation of differentiation (including formation of the permeability barrier), promotion of innate immunity, regulation of the hair follicle cycle, and suppression of tumour formation.

But how does it actually work? At this point we are a long way away from understanding how vitamin D, via its active metabolite(s) and receptor (VDR), regulates the various functions in the skin that it seems to.

Dermatologist Dr Dennis Gross, launched Vitamin D Serum in 2012, which was one of the first products to promote vitamin D as an anti-ageing active. Dr Gross says that vitamin D applied topically replenishes hydration, boosts elasticity, helps smooth fine lines and wrinkles, enhances the skin’s radiance, and helps correct sun damage and dark spots. It doesn’t use vitamin D3 (calcitriol) but vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol), made from yeast or mushroom, and its efficacy can be challenged as it is not an active form of vitamin D.

The skincare industry is now moving toward vitamin D-like compounds — artificial forms of vitamin D that act on VDRs to rejuvenate the skin.  Vederine by Silab is a new natural ‘vitamin D-like’ active. It is rich in oligofructose obtained and purified from chicory root (Cichorium intybus) to restore the functions of VDRs damaged by ageing, and stimulates the key steps in epidermal terminal differentiation. This active doesn’t provide vitamin D topically, but focuses on boosting the effect of the vitamin D we produce to be better used to rejuvenate the skin. It claims to activate the endogenous capacity of aged cells to restore the cutaneous homeostasis modified with age and enable the construction of a stratified and functional epidermis without UV exposure.

[pull_quote align=”right” ]Ageing reduces the capacity to synthesise vitamin D in the skin, as older adults have lower skin concentrations of vitamin D.[/pull_quote]

There is certainly a direct correlation between ageing and vitamin D levels. Ageing reduces the capacity to synthesise vitamin D in the skin, since older adults have lower skin concentrations of vitamin D compared with younger individuals. Consequently, it might be logical to think that mature skin might benefit from a vitamin D-like compound that helps the skin metabolise vitamin D more quickly and effectively.

Dr Mason’s research group, the Bosch Institute, received a grant from the Australian Research Council and its commercial partner, Ultraceuticals, to develop the discovery of a vitamin D-like compound that reduces the risk of DNA damage — which causes skin cancer — while combating the harmful effects of the sun. The idea is to put this active into sunscreen and after-sun products. This compound can be used in sun creams as added protection, allowing you to get enough vitamin D, while protecting the skin from sun damage. Both calcitriol and the vitamin D-like compound work on the VDR receptors to reduce several types of sun-induced DNA damage, probably through an increase in DNA repair.

Where things stand

Not a single expert will challenge the idea that UV radiation causes sun damage. But there might be a healthy dose of UV radiation that outweighs the risks of sun damage in the skin with health benefits and even a healthier skin.

One day, endocrinologists and dermatologists might agree on this controversial subject. Let’s hope that future research will tell us what the threshold of a safe sun exposure per skin type is.