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González et al. Plast Aesthet Res 2022;9:32 Plastic and
DOI: 10.20517/2347-9264.2022.04
Aesthetic Research

Editorial Open Access

Introduction to special issue “Recent Advances in
Skin Anti-Aging Agents”

1
2
Salvador González , Concepción Parrado , Ángeles Juarranz 3
1
Department of Medicine and Medical Specialties, Alcalá de Henares University, Madrid 28805, Spain.
2
Department of Histology and Pathology, Malaga Medical School, Malaga University, Málaga 29071, Spain.
3
Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid 28049, Spain.
Correspondence to: Dr. Salvador González, Department of Medicine and Medical Specialties, Alcalá de Henares University,
Madrid 28805, Spain. E-mail:salvagonrod@gmail.com; Dr. Ángeles Juarranz, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences,
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid 28049, Spain. E-mail: angeles.juarranz@uam.es
How to cite this article: González S, Parrado C, Juarranz Á. Introduction to special issue “Recent Advances in Skin Anti-Aging
Agents”. Plast Aesthet Res 2022;9:32. https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2347-9264.2022.04

Received: 18 Jan 2022 Accepted: 14 Feb 2022 Published: 6 May 2022

Academic Editor: Wen-Guo Cui Copy Editor: Xi-Jun Chen Production Editor: Xi-Jun Chen

INTRODUCTION
The skin is the main defensive barrier of our body and it protects us from physical, chemical, and biological
threats from the environment. The cutaneous barrier also provides homeostatic balance maintenance. The
external factors (lifestyle, occupation, pollutants, and light exposure), combined with internal factors, are
responsible for cutaneous aging, which affect healthy skin and increase the risk of cancer. Skin aging is
externally characterized by the appearance of wrinkles, presence of spots, loss of elasticity, or loss of skin
tone, among others. The aging process produces oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, a decrease of
immune functions, and disruption of the skin barrier. Several cell stressors, such as mitochondrial
dysfunction, telomere shortening, activation of oncogenes, and changes in chromatin structure, are
implicated in intrinsic and extrinsic skin aging. Oxidative stress plays a crucial role in both intrinsic and
extrinsic aging. In the skin, oxygen is converted into reactive oxygen species (ROS) by intrinsic processes,
and ROS are the primary effectors of UV-caused photoaging. More recently, research is focused on the
assessment of injury that environmental factors cause to the skin. Besides sun radiation exposure,
environmental factors involved in skin belong to the following major categories: air pollution (outdoor and
indoor air pollution) and tobacco smoke, among others. At the same time, the components of

© The Author(s) 2022. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
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