Restore and renew — Significantly reduces the loss of cells in the epidermis — Regenerate cells and repair tissue: The newest skin creams beckon with an air of scientific gravitas, holding out the hope that now, at last, medicine has triumphed over the visible aging process. With tantalising biological references and understated packaging, the products are among the first to capitalise on the public’s insatiable appetite for stem-cell technology.

But a word of caution before you plunk down $80 or $155 for these potions: They might be no better than existing anti-aging skin creams, the best of which spur the skin to work harder but still produce only modest effects. That’s not to say that stem cells couldn’t ultimately improve skin, perhaps in the next decade or so, says Dr Leslie Baumann, University of Miami’s Cosmetic Centre. But that time has not arrived, she says.

For now, she adds, consumers are being misled. The stem-cell skin cream frenzy began last year when a Salt Lake City company called Voss Laboratories released its product, Amatokin, at Bloomingdale’s with the advertising slogan “Stem Cells: The future of skin rejuvenation”.

Although none of the manufacturers say the products contain stem cells, the marketing materials are vague enough that consumers could easily think they were applying the much-heralded cells to their skin.

Stem cells, most notably found in the tissue of developing fetuses, have the ability to develop into many types of tissue. Many labs are working on ways to cultivate them into specific tissues or substances that could be used to treat a variety of illnesses. Eventually, the cells could be coaxed into developing into liver, bone, skin or other tissues to replace missing, defective or diseased tissue.

This research is still in its infancy. Even if scientists figured out a way to get live stem cells into products, applying them to the skin — and expecting them to work — would be a lot to ask.

Instead, the products are designed to stimulate the skin’s own stem cells, which are layered between the epidermis and dermis. These cells are constantly dividing, with newer cells slowly moving to the surface and older cells being shed from the top layer. As people age, this turnover process slows, causing the loss of elasticity, uniform colour and other characteristics that give skin a youthful appearance. The goal of many skin-care manufacturers is to find substances that provoke adult skin stem cells to behave like younger cells.

Even companies that do not describe their products as stem-cell technology are bottling cell-cultured substances intended to stimulate the skin’s ability to rejuvenate itself.

Los Angeles Times