Wrinkle filler may replenish skin’s collagen

Restylane, a popular cosmetic treatment for temporarily plumping out wrinkles, actually makes the skin produce more collagen, the natural stuff that makes skin look young, researchers said last week.

That means the product, which millions of people have had injected around their lips, cheeks and foreheads, has effects beyond what its manufacturers claim, the team at the University of Michigan Health System reported.

The researchers tested Restylane, marketed by Q-Med AB of Uppsala, Sweden, and Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. It and rival products use hyaluronic acid, which holds onto water in the skin.

“Everybody had thought that the whole story with this stuff is that you inject it and because of its volume-filling nature that ... it would go in and fill up whatever defect is there and that is why it made people look better,” said dermatologist Dr. John Voorhees, who led the study. “What we are saying here is ... that in addition to the space-filling concept, is it forcing your body to make its own collagen.”

The study was reported in the February issue of Archives of Dermatology. The company did not pay for the experiment and does not know what the report says, the researchers said.