Cosmeceutical Critique

The role of oleuropein, the primary phenol in olives, in skin health

Publish date: March 17, 2020

Wound healing

Koca et al. assessed the wound healing activity of O. europaea leaf extracts using in vivo wound models and the reference ointment Madecassol (Bayer; Istanbul) for comparison, in 2011. The results showed that the aqueous extract exhibited wound healing properties, with secoiridoid oleuropein (4.6059%) found to be the primary active constituent.²

In a 2014 skin wound–healing investigation in aged male Balb/c mice, Mehraein et al. divided 24 mice, 16 months of age, into control and experimental groups. On days 3 and 7 after incision, collagen fiber deposition was significantly increased and reepithelialization more advanced in the oleuropein group (administered via an intradermal injection once a day), which also experienced decreased cell infiltration. The investigators concluded that oleuropein speeds cutaneous wound healing in mice and may have potential for clinical applications in human would healing from surgery.¹⁷

Later that year, the same team investigated the therapeutic effects of oleuropein on the wounded skin of young male Balb/c mice, finding similar results, with the phenolic compound again accelerating reepithelialization, improving collagen fiber synthesis, and augmenting blood flow to wound areas via up-regulating VEGF protein expression.⁴

Hair growth

In 2015, Tong et al. reported that topically applied oleuropein spurred the anagen hair growth phase in telogenic C57BL/6N mouse skin.¹⁸ An O. europaea subcutaneous immunotherapy has also demonstrated reductions in cutaneous reactivity, safety, and tolerability in patients with rhinoconjunctivitis.¹⁹

Conclusion

The benefits of consuming olives and olive oil are well established and continue to be studied. Healthy effects of topically applied olive oil have also emerged in research in recent years, backed by many years of anecdotal reporting and use in traditional medicine. While the emerging data on the dermatologic uses of the olive phenolic constituent oleuropein are encouraging, much more information, particularly derived from randomized, controlled trials in humans, is necessary to establish the full potential of oleuropein for indications such as wound healing and protection against UV damage.

Dr. Baumann is a private practice dermatologist, researcher, author, and entrepreneur who practices in Miami. She founded the Cosmetic Dermatology Center at the University of Miami in 1997. Dr. Baumann wrote two textbooks: “Cosmetic Dermatology: Principles and Practice” (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002), and “Cosmeceuticals and Cosmetic Ingredients” (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2014), and a New York Times Best Sellers book for consumers, “The Skin Type Solution” (New York: Bantam Dell, 2006). Dr. Baumann has received funding for advisory boards and/or clinical research trials from Allergan, Evolus, Galderma, and Revance. She is the founder and CEO of Skin Type Solutions Franchise Systems. Write to her at dermnews@mdedge.com.

References

1. Baumann LS, Weisberg EM. “Olive oil in botanical cosmeceuticals.” Olives and Olive Oil in Health and Disease Prevention. New York: Academic Press, 2010.

2. Koca U et al. J Med Food. 2011 Jan-Feb;14(1-2):140-6.

3. Perugini P et al. Int J Cosmet Sci. 2008 Apr;30(2):113-20.

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8. Salucci S et al. J Dermatol Sci. 2015 Oct;80(1):61-8.

9. Jeon S, Choi M. Biomed Dermatol. 2018;2:21.

10. Imran M et al. J Food Sci. 2018 Jul;83(7):1781-91.

11. Visioli F et al. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1998 Jun 9;247(1):60-4.

12. Polišak N et al. Phytother Res. 2019 Oct 27. doi: 10.1002/ptr.6524.

13. Aissa I et al. Biotechnol Appl Biochem. 2017 Jul;64(4):579-89.