Hyaluronic acid, a promising skin rejuvenating biomedicine: A review of recent updates and pre-clinical and clinical investigations on cosmetic and nutricosmetic effects

Hyaluronic acid (HA) plays multifaceted role in regulating the various biological processes such as skin repairmen, diagnosis of cancer, wound healing, tissue regeneration, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulation. Owing to its remarkable biomedical and tissue regeneration potential, HA has been numerously employed as one of the imperative components of the cosmetic and nutricosmetic products. The present review aims to summarize and critically appraise recent developments and clinical investigations on cosmetic and nutricosmetic efficacy of HA for skin rejuvenation. A thorough analysis of the literature revealed that HA based formulations (i.e., gels, creams, intra-dermal filler injections, dermal fillers, facial fillers, autologous fat gels, lotion, serum, and implants, etc.) exhibit remarkable anti-wrinkle, anti-nasolabial fold, anti-aging, space-filling, and face rejuvenating properties. This has been achieved via soft tissue augmentation, improved skin hydration, collagen and elastin stimulation, and face volume restoration. HA, alone or in combination with lidocaine and other co-agents, showed promising efficacy in skin tightness and elasticity, face rejuvenation, improving aesthetic scores, reducing the wrinkle scars, longevity, and tear trough rejuvenation. Our critical analysis evidenced that application/administration of HA exhibits outstanding nutricosmetic efficacy and thus is warranted to be used as a prime component of cosmetic products.