New Study Suggests Methylene Blue May Treat Skin Ageing

in #health7 years ago


Methylene Blue (MB) is an old drug that may be a safe way of maintaining youthful skin function according to a new study.


Introduction


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Methylene Blue.

Methylene blue is a drug (and medical staining agent) has been used for a variety of ailments (and tests) for more than a century.

In recent years there has been renewed interest in it as an anti-ageing compound.

It is relatively safe and due to its chemical properties is able to proliferate through tissues very easily. It is also relatively cheap compared to some other agents.

A new open access study in Nature Scientific Reports by Xiong et al. [1] suggests that MB could have benefits in treating skin ageing.


The Study


Xiong at el carried out a number of laboratory experiments on skin cells and skin models to test the effects of Methylene Blue.

If you are interested in the specific experiments used there is a very useful summary at the end of the paper (from pg. 9 onwards).

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Old skin vs. young skin - MB may be able to restore youthful function.

Cells taken from elderly individuals (along with younger controls) were tested, as well as cells taken from sufferers of a particular type of Progeria (HGPS - a rapid ageing disease).

In order to get a better impression of how methylene blue might work in actual skin (rather than just cells) testing was also carried out on 3D skin models as well as the simple tissue samples.

These 3D models aim to replicate physical skin (structurally and physiologically) in the lab without actually using a living person or animal.

It is a useful way of getting around the ethical constraints whilst still obtaining more representative data than basic cell/tissue testing.


Results


To keep things brief I have summarised the findings from the paper:

  • MB was found to be a more potent scavenger of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and a more powerful antioxidant than several other commonly used agents. It had the greatest ability at reducing ROS in mitochondria and also promoted greater skin cell proliferation compared to the other antioxidants.

  • MB appeared to be able to reduce the physical ageing of skin cells and restore them to a state more similar to the younger controls.

  • Some of these results appeared to be due to up-regulation of the protein Nrf2 (nuclear erythroid 2-related factor 2). Nrf2 also appears to be related to progeria and in protecting a whole host of cells including neurones.

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MB does appear to make elderly skin cells behave like younger ones.

  • MB also appeared to up-regulate expression of genes which are involved in the production of elastin and collagen (important proteins that make up skin).

  • MB increased skin thickness and hydration (ability to retain water). Aged skin tends to be thinner and less effective at maintaining hydration than young skin (part of what makes it wrinkle, look old and reduces it's function as a protective barrier for the body), it appears that MB can reduce and even reverse this.

  • MB appeared to improve wound healing in simulated tests - this is another area where aged skin tends to be very impaired compared to young skin.

  • MB also appeared to be safe and did not cause inflammation at the doses used.

The overall effect of MB was to restore a more youthful level of functioning and appearance to elderly cells.


Problems


Many of the usual problems apply with such preliminary research.

Firstly these were all in vitro tests i.e. they were laboratory tests that did not take place in a living organism.

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The usual problems with early biological research apply.

Some of the tests used cell samples, others used simulated skin. One can always query how well these results would translate to a real living person.

Sometimes things which work in the lab don't translate to being effective in actual living people.

Further the sample sizes (in terms of cell lines) used were small - perhaps the cell lines used had some peculiarities that made them particularly susceptible to the effects of MB?

As is often the case we will need further replication to confirm these results.


Conclusion


This is certainly interesting research and adds to previous research that suggests Methylene Blue may have an anti-ageing effect in a variety of tissues and organs.

Skin is our largest organ and acts as an important barrier to the outside world.

As a result it can pay a heavy price in terms of ageing.

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Healthier skin could have a huge impact on health and general quality of life.

Skin related problems can often be very difficult to treat in elderly patients and this is likely due to impaired skin function as a result of age related changes.

Anything that can help with this would have significant benefits to the general health of this group and could also significantly improve their quality of life.

So far it appears that MB has the ideal combination of safety, effectiveness and relatively low cost.

It will be interesting to see if further research can continue to replicate these results and add to the evidence for its usefulness.

(NB - I have endeavoured to make this post more brief please let me know if I have the balance right.)


References


  1. Xiong, Zheng-Mei, Mike O’Donovan, Linlin Sun, Ji Young Choi, Margaret Ren, and Kan Cao. 2017. “Anti-Aging Potentials of Methylene Blue for Human Skin Longevity.” Scientific Reports 7 (1): 2475.

Thank you for reading


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hmmmmmm......

combine this with blue raspberry candy..................

Oreos ;)

Lol but the sugar may not be so good for ageing!

canceling each other out is good enough for me lol

This may be somewhat off topic, but I've always wondered why exactly women are so obsessed with removing/hiding wrinkles. That's just part of a mature womans charm!

Probably because they don't like wrinkles?

Looking younger does not make us younger. :(

Well said :0) dont mess with nature I say. Lol

Alexman...this was suppose to answer ur post..lol

At least this sounds like a more natural looking solution. tbh I hate how botox/other fillers turn out a lot of the time. Just plasticy and weird. But even if we did suddenly accept wrinkles as a society, it looks like it would have some applications for regular skin healing - maybe burn victims and the like?

I have been taking it for years! IT WORKS ITS UNBELIEVABLE!

Well said :0) Dont mess with nature I say. Lol

It's because today's society. Everyone wants to be young and healthy as long as possible. There is also a difference between aging of men and women. Wrinkles = old = ugly. That's really not fair in my opinion.

Some men are in the game too. I expect people to allow aging to come gracefully.

This is awesome! I'd love to see some actual before and after pictures or some more stats. I have to work in the sun all day so I need something like this!

I don't think it is in a state where photos are possible. We need actual human studies for that.

Well, I can tell you if they want to do human trials a clinical study in South FL would have a line around the door. They love their cosmetic surgery/drugs around here.

Lol I'm sure they do!

this is an intriguing glimpse at a synthetic drug with many possible unexplored uses. The medical literature on this drug is almost impenetrable to a layman. Is it used topically or meant to be taken internally? Have there been any long-term studies of potentially harmful effects? An excellent post, my friend :)

@@ -124,9 +124,8 @@
t it
-'
s to

MB was used as a mild antiseptic to kill bacteria in the urinary tract and also as a dye making certain body fluids and tissues easier to view in the medical arena.
Great to see that old chemicals can be used in solving other issues, in this case skin aging and healing.

Great post and summary of the study. Thank you.

Yes. Thank you:)

yes, it does a lot.

Very interesting read. I've only ever remember MB as a staining agent, indicator in titration, and antidote in cyanide poisoning. Thank you for this. Is there a way for me to save your article in steemit? (Sorry. Newbie here) :)

Not exactly. Resteeming will put it in your feed so that is kind of a way of saving it but then everyone who sees your feed will see it too. I generally bookmark posts that I want to save for later.

Oh. Thanks for the information and tip. It's okay, I like the post and think it's worth sharing. Who doesn't like to read about staying young? My group's thesis a decade ago was a fern with possible antioxidant property (we used vit e for our control) so this article made me excited! Thank you! (Is the promote button the one for resteeming?)

No promote is for the promotion page. Resteem looks like an upside down return key symbol.

(Nvm. Discovered it's the semi-circle/square arrow lol)

Methylene Blue can be good stuff. Especially for mitochondria. https://www.jackkruse.com/biohacking-time-with-methylene-blue/

Yes that is one of the primary mechanisms of action (or at least it is believed to be).

Try combining it with some red light therapy like a full spectrum sauna. Super powered. My favorite source for MB https://www.bluebrainboost.com/p/methylene-blue-nootropic/

I'm not familiar with red light therapy.

Writing a book on the health power of light now. I'll write up a post on red light therapy for you. One more good article on MB https://selfhacked.com/2013/08/25/methylene-blue-the-cheapest-cognitive-enhancer/

Cool thanks. I actually use a light box myself to help with SAD.

Every stage of life must be lived intensely.
The hairs on the hair and the wrinkles of the skin are the demonstration of a long lived experience and therefore a learning obtained, as well as a greater spirual progress achieved

Perhaps but if we can keep people in good health for longer they can keep doing those things.

nice post.....

you are welcome my friend....

You upvote and share so many other people's posts - you should try doing a post yourself. I'm sure you would get a good response. Send me the link if you do.

I did posted my (10) posts fews days, cannot allow you to retrieve it....If you find ways to retrieve posts...kindly inform me. Thanks...

Unfortunately after 7 days we can't vote for them. Do another one and let me know and I will vote and share it for you.

thanks...buddy....that's very kind of you....that's the steemit community spirit.... :)

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