Researchers Make Old Skin Look Young, On Buttocks

The good news? Researchers at the University of Michigan have found a way to make old, wrinkled skin look fresh and youthful. They do it, according to a University of Michigan news release, by adding more filler to the fiber-filled area around the cells. Scientists at the university’s med school injected the skin of 21 volunteers in their 80s with a filler, which bolsters the extracellulal matrix, or ECM, filling in the spaces left by aging. The filler is often used cosmetically to reduce facial wrinkles. The less than good news: in this case, the researchers chose the other cheeks, those on the buttocks, as their area of experimentation. Now back to good news: over three months, the fibroblasts began expressing collagen-related genes, producing more collagen, and connecting better to the ECM. The skin grew thicker, and more blood vessels, which nourished the cells were seen. In other words, they made an old butt look young, again. Read more from the University of Michigan.