Twenty-two adults each had half of their face treated with a laser and the other half left alone. A month after the last session, the treated side looked different at the molecular level too.
That is the finding of a new human study in Nature’s Scientific Reports, which tested Candela’s Nordlys non-ablative fractional laser at 1940 nm. The researchers describe it as the first in vivo evidence that the treatment can remodel the skin’s epigenetic profile.
What the researchers measured
Each participant received three treatments. Rather than rely on photos or a physician’s impression, the team looked at DNA methylation, chemical tags that help control how genes behave without altering the genetic code. Scientists increasingly use these patterns to estimate biological age.
The team examined more than 3.8 million sites across the genome. Among the age-related sites that responded to treatment, nearly 84% moved in the opposite direction from normal skin aging.
Timing mattered. Nothing showed up right away. The shifts appeared about a month after the series ended, grew stronger over the next few months and were still stable at six months.
Visible changes tracked the molecular ones. Using VISIA imaging, the researchers recorded a median 38% reduction in brown spots on the treated side one month after the series, along with gains in texture and pigmentation. The genes affected are tied to collagen production, skin barrier function and normal skin renewal.
A signal on skin cancer
The team also saw methylation changes in genes linked to basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers, the two most common forms. The study was not built to measure cancer prevention, and the authors do not present the laser as a preventive treatment. They say the result offers a molecular explanation consistent with earlier clinical research connecting non-ablative fractional laser treatment to a lower risk of facial keratinocyte carcinomas.
“This study is an important first step toward understanding the biology beneath what we observe in the clinic,” said Dr Konika Patel Schallen, lead author and Senior Vice President of Global Clinical Operations at Candela. “Physicians have seen that Nordlys treatments do more than improve the skin’s appearance and until now, we could not fully explain why.”
Dr Cristiana Banila, Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Mitra Bio and a co-author, stressed the pattern of the changes. “The changes were not only directional, opposing the patterns we associate with aging, but also durable and strengthening over months,” she said. “That combination is what makes these results scientifically compelling.”
Limits apply. Aging cannot simply be erased with a laser, the report said, and larger studies will be needed to confirm the results.
Sources
Sources
- New Human Study in Nature’s Scientific Reports Finds…
- Laser treatment found to reverse skin aging markers
