Skin aging can be attributed to photoaging (extrinsic) and chronological (intrinsic) aging. Photoaging and intrinsic aging are induced by damage to human skin attributable to repeated exposure to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and to the passage of time, respectively. In our previous report, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) was found to inhibit UV-induced matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) expression in human dermal fibroblasts. Therefore, we investigated the effects of EPA on UV-induced skin damage and intrinsic aging by applying EPA topically to young and aged human skin, respectively. By immunohistochemical analysis and Western blotting, we found that topical application of EPA reduced UV-induced epidermal thickening and inhibited collagen decrease induced by UV light. It was also found that EPA attenuated UV-induced MMP-1 and MMP-9 expression by inhibiting UV-induced c-Jun phosphorylation, which is closely related to UV-induced activator protein-1 activation, and by inhibiting JNK and p38 activation. EPA also inhibited UV-induced cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression without altering COX-1 expression. Moreover, it was found that EPA increased collagen and elastic fibers (tropoelastin and fibrillin-1) expression by increasing transformin growth factor-b expression in aged human skin.Together, these results demonstrate that topical EPA has potential as an anti-skin-aging agent. Skin aging can be attributed to extrinsic aging and intrinsic (chronological) aging and is commonly related to increased wrinkling, sagging, and laxity (1). Extrinsic aging is generally referred to as photoaging and is caused by repeated exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light. Whereas naturally aged skin is smooth, pale, and finely wrinkled, photoaged skin is coarsely wrinkled and associated with dyspigmentation and telangiectasia (2). Alterations in collagen, the major structural component of the skin, have been considered to be a cause of skin aging and are observed in naturally aged and photoaged skin (3, 4). However, the mechanisms of collagen destruction in aged skin have not been fully clarified.Collagen destruction is, in part, related to the induction of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) secreted by epidermal keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts. MMP levels are increased by various stimuli, such as UV light, oxidative stress, and cytokines. UV light rapidly activates activator protein-1 (AP-1) DNA binding and induces MMPs, including MMP-1 (collagenase), stromelysin (MMP-3), and gelatinase (MMP-9) (5). UV-induced MMP-1 expression induces the cleavage of fibrillar collagen (types I and III) at a single site. Once collagen is cleaved by MMP-1, it is further degraded by MMP-3 and MMP-9, which are also increased by UV light exposure (6). In human skin, UV-induced AP-1 transcriptional activity that is closely related to MMP expression is limited by c-Jun expression, because c-Fos is constitutively expressed (7). Moreover, whereas c-Fos expression levels in young (18-28 years old) and aged (.80 years old) skin are not different, c-Jun express...