Effect of a topical collagen tripeptide on antiaging and inhibition of glycation of the skin - a pilot study

Pilot clinical-laboratory study conducted by the Ju Hee Lee group at Yonsei University (South Korea), evaluating topical collagen tripeptide (CTP, Gly-Pro-Hyp) — sequence known as tripeptide-29 in INCI nomenclature — for anti-aging cutaneous effects and modulation of dermal glycation. Glycation is the process of formation of AGEs (advanced glycation end products), central to cutaneous aging and loss of elasticity.

The work integrated an in vivo clinical component (22 Asian women, topical CTP application for 4 weeks) and an in vitro component (assays in human dermal fibroblasts). In the clinical arm, outcomes were assessed by standard dermatological instrumentation: skin density (Cutometer/DermaScan), elasticity, wrinkle depth and cutaneous fluorescence as a proxy for accumulated AGEs.

Results showed, at 4 weeks: skin density increased from 55.66 ± 7.61 to 59.67 ± 7.84 (p<0.001); elasticity increased from 0.81 ± 0.03 to 0.83 ± 0.03; maximum collagen strength increased from 68.02 ± 5.48 to 70.24 ± 5.14 (p<0.001); and there was significant reduction in skin AGE accumulation. Complementary in vitro assays demonstrated that CTP inhibited matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) induction — enzymes that degrade collagen and elastin — and increased type 1 collagen levels in fibroblasts. It also reduced glycation-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS).

This is one of the few peer-reviewed clinical studies specifically on topical tripeptide-29, in a cosmetic literature generally dominated by industry-sponsored data. Limitations are significant — open-label study, no placebo, small sample of 22 subjects, no active comparator. But the proposed dual mechanism (collagen synthesis stimulation + glycation inhibition) is pharmacologically plausible and provides a basis for more scientifically defensible cosmetic claims than most synthetic peptides in dermocosmetics.