Lipid Profiling of Oily Skin in Chinese Female aged 22-28 and 29-35 Defined by the Life Rhythm Theory of Huangdi Neijing

Abstract

Purpose: According to the life rhythm derived from the ancient Chinese medicine book Huangdi Neijing, female growth and development culminates between the age of 22-28, with strong muscles, bones and vigorous hair. To investigate the characteristics of facial lipid profile in oily skin of female at different developmental stages classified based on seven-year rhythm, and to provide the mechanistic insight into the aging theory of Huangdi Neijing.Methods: The facial lipid composition of two groups of healthy women with oily skin (O1 group: age of 22-28; O2 group: age of 29-35) was analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS). Differential lipids between O1 and O2 groups were identified using an orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) model.Results: No significant difference in skin barrier function was found between the O1 and O2 groups. In contrast, skin elasticity and skin radiance displayed significant changes, with the O2 group showing decreased skin elasticity and dull skin, which is consistent with the description in Huangdi Neijing. In terms of lipid profile, among eight lipid main classes, seven lipid classes [FA], [GL], [GP], [PK], [PR], [SP] and [ST] showed significantly higher relative levels in the O2 group (<i>p</i><0.05). Among the differential lipid species, myriocin, erucamide, phosphatidylserine, flavonoid compounds, and sphinganine were significantly and negatively correlated with skin elasticity (R2) and skin radiance (ITA) (<i>p</i><0.05).Conclusion: The seven lipid species identified are important for targeting markers of skin aging and developing cosmetics that maintain skin elasticity and color.