What is hyaluronic acid?

Hyaluronic acid was first discovered in 1934 by Karl Meyer and John Palmer from the hyaloids of a cow's eye.
The name 'hyaluronic acid' comes from hyaloids and uronic acid, and hyaluronic acid is a type of mucopolysaccharide such as chondroitin sulfate.
It is abundant in hyaloids of animals, synovial fluid, cartilage and skin.
The hyaluronic acid is involved in lubrication of the joints and flexibility of and skin by bonding with large amount of water to become gel-like. Its high viscosity also plays an important role in preventing bacterial infection or penetration of toxin into the skin.
Hyaluronic acid is present in many parts of the body, especially in the skin, to give elasticity and volume in the skin. Thus, lack of hyaluronic acid will dry, sag and wrinkle the skin.
Hyaluronic acid is the most hydrophilic compound known in nature is also called natural moisturizer.
It is useful as prosthetics in eye or body surgeries for the treatment of arthritis, as injections to prevent wrinkles, or in capsules and cosmetics.

Skin and hyaluronic acid

As people age, the most prominent changes in the skin is the fine wrinkles on the face, and these are surely one of the biggest concerns for many women especially around the eyes and the mouth.
People feel that they are aging from the appearance of the fine wrinkles, and one of the reasons the skin loses elasticity and wrinkles is the decrease in hyaluronic acid.
Hyaluronic acid is very important component of the skin, being one of the three components of the skin along with collagen and elastin.
It gives elasticity to the skin and minimizes the damage in the dermis in case of an injury.
Moreover, it prevents disease such as skin injection by blocking the penetration of foreign bodies such as bacteria.
As people age, the amount of hyaluronic acid in the skin decreases and the production of the hyaluronic decreases as well.
The contents of hyaluronic acid peaks around age of 18 for clean and clear skin, but the contents drops to 50% by the time the person is around 40 years old. In other words, the elasticity in the skin is lost, and the skin will wrinkle.

Cosmetics and hyaluronic acid

Hyaluronic acid is mucopolysaccharide that is present in many organisms. In humans, it could be found in high concentration in skin, joints and eye fluids.
Hyaluronic acid supports the structure of the tissues by bonding with water molecules in the interstitial space and occupies the space to maintain the volume of the skin.
Moisture-absorbing power of the hyaluronic acid is outstanding where one molecule of hyaluronic acid attracts 214 water molecules.
This characteristic which prevents moisture from escaping away from the skin has made hyaluronic acid commonly used ingredients in high moisturizing and anti-aging cosmetics in the world cosmetics industry.
Hyaluronic acid is expensive due to its complicated processing, and thus premium functional cosmetics using hyaluronic acid as its main ingredients are launched one after another.

Atopic skin disease and hyaluronic acid

The cause of atopic skin diseases is unclear, and atopic skin disease has early onset which often progresses to chronic without a cure.
In atopic skin disease, the skin show hypersensitivity to outside stimulants or allergic materials as the protective barrier function of the skin has weakened and exposure has increased.
Atopic dermatitis is under genetic influence, and infection may occur due to skin infections by bacteria, fungi or mites that act on the skin's immune system.
Recently there have been many cosmetic products newly launched for atopic skin and anti-wrinkle cosmetics using hyaluronic acid