A common tree could hold the key to counteracting sagging skin. Shiseido Co., Ltd., has announced that joint research with Professor Nobuyuki Takakura of the Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, has revealed that impaired function of dermal lymphatic vessels lead to accumulation of subcutaneous fat, which ultimately causes “sagging” of the skin. Further, this study claims to be the first to discover that “pine cone extra” collected from Pinus Sylvestris, which is distributed throughout Europe and Asia, has the effect of strengthening and normalizing the lymphatic vessels.
 
Shiseido says development is underway to apply these study findings to skin care cosmetics.
 
In collaboration with Osaka University, Shiseido initiated the screening of herbal components with the same function as apelin, which increases lymphatic function and suppresses subcutaneous fat increase and accumulation. It is known that apelin binds to G protein-coupled receptor APJ, which is expressed in the cell membrane of lymphatic endothelial cells, and stabilizes lymphatic vessels. From among approximately 200 herbal components, “pine cone extra” was found to have the same high activity as apelin that binds to APJ. As with apelin, “pine cone extract” was shown to have a suppressing effect on fatty acid-induced destabilization of lymphatic vessels. In addition, when a trial product formulated with “pine cone extra” was used for two months (morning and night), effects were observed to improve the nasolabial line, the facial line, and sagging of the neck.
 
Shiseido will continue to conduct basic research on capillary and lymphatic vessels to develop new skincare cosmetics.