Effects of oral administration of equine placental extract supplement on the facial skin of healthy adult women: A randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study

Abstract

Introduction Placenta extract is used as an ingredient in ointments for treating dermatological diseases, skin dryness, and for skin beautification. However, the clinical effects of the equine placenta on humans and the underlying mechanism of action are unclear. This randomized, controlled, double‐blind study aimed to clinically evaluate the effect of oral intake of equine placental extract on human skin quality. Methods Healthy women volunteers between the ages of 30 and 59 years (n = 29) were randomly assigned to receive 220 mg of equine placental extract–placebo orally, once daily for 4 weeks. Skin quality parameters such as skin hydration, skin barrier function (transepidermal water loss [TEWL]), and melanin index were assessed at baseline and after 4 weeks of administration. Results The melanin index was significantly increased in the placebo group, whereas it remained unchanged in the equine placenta group. The pattern of melanin index change was significantly different due to intake or no intake of equine placenta supplements over 4 weeks. No significant difference was found in skin hydration and TEWL between the two groups at 4 weeks of postadministration. It was shown that the intake of the equine placenta was more effective in protecting the skin condition against the change of ultraviolet (UV) sensitively than the change in temperature and humidity. Conclusions Effect of equine placental extract intake was evident on the cheek skin of the equine placenta group where participants were protected from UV‐induced pigmentation. Equine placental extract is useful for decreasing melanin synthesis and melanin content in the human skin and can be used as an effective food supplement to maintain human skin quality.

Combined treatment with basalt stone and placenta extract to improve the chronic pain and scar after breast cancer surgery: a case report

“…In the present case, equine placenta extract was used. Although there is no report yet that horse placenta extract has shown the same clinical efficacy as human or porcine placenta extract, in the field of dermatology, it has been confirmed in human studies that horse placenta extract prevents UV-induced pigmentation [ 28 ]. Thus, medical use of horse placenta extract may be useful in the dermatological field.…”

Novel Placenta-Derived Liquid Product Suitable for Cosmetic Application Produced by Fermentation and Digestion of Porcine or Equine Placenta Using Lactic Acid Bacterium Enterococcus faecalis PR31

“…Several old documents describing the usage of the placenta as traditional medicines have been discovered in Asian countries; for example, a Chinese historical book, "Compendium of Materia Medica (Ben Cao Gang Mu)" mentioned the use of dried human placenta (Ze He Che) as a revitalizer [4]. Recently, placental extracts produced by digesting the placenta of several animals with proteases or acids have been used for both inner and outer beauty, especially in Asian countries, including Japan [5][6][7][8][9]. For application in cosmetics, although traditional placental extracts produced solely by proteolysis have been reported to have the property to stimulate the proliferation of dermal fibroblasts [10][11][12], their moisturizing effects were not sufficient, and they could not stimulate the proliferation of epidermal keratinocytes [10].…”

Antidepressant Effect of Enzymatic Porcine Placenta Hydrolysate in Repeated Immobilization Stress-Induced Ovariectomized Female Mice

“…The placenta is a reservoir of bioactive molecules including hormones, proteins, and amino acids. One important bioactive includes the porcine placenta extract which is known for its anti-oxidant [ 21 ] or immune activity-enhancing effect [ 22 ]. In particular, bioactive compounds of human placental extract (HPE) are widely utilized to relieve menopausal symptoms [ 23 ].…”