Exosomes
23 April 2025
If celebrities and doctors like Kim Kardashian, Pia Wurtzbach and Dr Barbara Sturm are throwing their weight behind exosomes, you can be sure exosomes are destined to trend. Already, exosome skin treatments are generating buzz in the field of dermatology as safer, cell-free options are being sought for younger looking skin. Said to be safer than stem cell and platelet rich plasma products, exosome skincare products look poised to become mainstream. Here’s all you need to know about exosome skincare.
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Exosomes are tiny vesicles secreted by all cells, including stem cells and platelets, for communication between cells and repair of tissues1-4. They contain active molecules such as lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids2,3,5. These molecules in exosomes behave as signals between cells.
In the skin, exosomes have the potential to improve wound healing, build collagen, and reduce inflammation6-15. Exosome treatments are still in the early stages of being fully understood. However in Singapore, exosome treatments have been explored in treating dark spots, hair loss, scars and skin rejuvenation. Exosomes are administered by injections or application to the skin after lasers and microneedling.
Exosome skincare has been heralded as an elixir of youth of sorts by various cosmetics companies, promising younger looking skin with supposed improvements in dark spots (e.g. melasma) and wrinkles. Some of the advertised benefits of exosome therapy include hair growth, reduced acne scars, lighten dark spots, reduced pore size, brighter and younger looking skin and reduced fine wrinkles.
Exosomes are produced by all cells as a means of communication between cells….so where and how are exosomes in cosmetics obtained?
Exosomes are mostly obtained from various cell types including stem cells in the bone marrow, placenta, adipose tissues (fats) and umbilical cord tissue2,16. Other sources of exosomes include dendritic cells, macrophages, blood, milk, saliva, plants and microbes16.
Exosomes also vary in their “cargo” of molecules that they contain; and their safety and effects can also be influenced by their components2.
Exosome skincare products are making waves in the cosmeceutical field. Some of the cosmetics brands that have exosome skincare products include:
•Medicube Zero Exosome Shot
• Dr. Barbara Sturm Exoso-Metic Face Serum
• The INKEY List Exosome Hydro-Glow Complex Serum
• AnteAGE MDX Exosome Solution
• Dr.G RTX Into Serum Peptishot
• Morphiya Exosome Concentrate and SOS Cream Bundle
Is exosome another new, buzzy skincare ingredient that’s hyped up? Exosome skincare products are trending and relatively expensive (most of the products cost more than USD$200 per bottle); so this warrants a hard look at the data and studies for exosomes in skincare.
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And this is where the excitement for exosome cosmetics wanes. In spite of the media hype and celebrity obsession for exosome skincare products; most of the findings and data for exosome cosmetics are very, very limited. Most of our understanding on exosomes in dermatology is based on in-vitro and preclinical studies; clinical studies in humans remain few and far in between. These studies are also limited by a small number of subjects, short periods of study and variable sources of exosomes and study methods; making it hard to draw conclusions for exosome skincare.
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These are the few published on exosome skincare (as of end 2023):
• Topical application of exosomes (derived from adipose stem cells) in a split face, randomised controlled trial involving 21 females over 8 weeks found that measured melanin levels decreased statistically 4 weeks after treatment with exosomes as compared to placebo17. However, the melanin reduction effects decreased at 8 weeks17.
The authors acknowledged that the improvements in dark spots could also be contributed by other biological factors like growth factors in the product17.
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• In 2023, another split face trial of 28 subjects in Korea found that the combination of microneedling and with exosomes improved skin wrinkles, elasticity, hydration, and pigmentation compared to the side of the face that was treated with a microneedling and topical control18.
• Another split face, randomised clinical trial of 25 subjects in Korea after fractional laser treatment for depressed acne scars found that the side of the face treated with exosomes showed improvements in their acne scars after 2 treatments, compared to controls19.
However, in this same study, the investigators also found the improvements in scar reduction for ice pick and box scar scars were not significantly different from the control at the end of the study period of 12 weeks19. The investigators postulated that additional procedures are required for treating these scar subtypes with exosomes19.
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There are currently a few more clinical trials studying the effects of exosomes for skin rejuvenation and atopic dermatitis20,21. I will update this blogpost as more studies are published.
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While proponents of exosome cosmetics point to this early evidence for using exosomes; one hurdle specific to exosomes skincare needs to overcome is the skin barrier. Its relatively large molecular size and poor penetration through the stratum corneum when applied to the skin. Exosomes need to reach the epidermis to initiate their biological functions.
One study found that less than 1% of exosomes applied to the skin could penetrate the stratum corneum, highlighting this limitation with exosomes applied to the skin22.
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The poor penetration and uptake of exosomes by the skin has also led to studies exploring exosomes application in conjunction with treatments that increase the permeability of the skin, such as microneedling and microspicules23-25. As more results of these studies emerge, so will our understanding of an optimal delivery method for exosome skincare. Other limitations of exosome therapy include potential side effects and complications concerning exosomes are safety, lack of clinical data and the heterogeneity of exosome products. I discuss these problems with exosomes in Exosome Skin Treatments: the Buzzword in Dermatology.
Some other limitations and gaps in the understanding of exosome therapy in dermatology include: How to use exosome skincare Based on its theoretical benefits, exosome skincare may be helpful in treating dark spots, pores size and improving wound healing. This makes exosome skincare potentially helpful in the aftercare for dermatological treatments like lasers, chemical peels and microneedling. However I would still recommend discussing the use of exosome skincare with your doctor before using them after these procedures.
Exosome skincare are definitely a development in the field of cosmetics and regenerative medicine, with lots of potential in recovery for sensitive skin and post procedure recovery. However, just like most developments that are relatively new, exosome skincare still needs to overcome hurdles and potential side effects before it can its use can be more widely recommended. I’ll updating this post as more research, reviews and data on exosome skincare get published, stay tuned!
References:
1. Decoding Roles of Exosomal lncRNAs in Tumor-Immune Regulation and Therapeutic Potential. Zhang et al. Cancers (Basel). 2023 Jan; 15(1): 286.
2. The novel mechanisms and applications of exosomes in dermatology and cutaneous medical aesthetics. Xiong et al. Pharmacol Res. 2021 Apr:166:105490.
3. Overcome the barriers of the skin: exosome therapy. Gi et al. Biomater Res. 2021 Jul 3;25(1):22.
4. The Potential Role of Exosomes in Aesthetic Plastic Surgery: A Review of Current Literature. Ku et al. Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. 2023 Jun 12;11(6):e5051.
5. The functions and clinical application potential of exosomes derived from adipose mesenchymal stem cells: a comprehensive review. Hong et al. Stem Cell Res Ther. 2019 Aug 7;10(1):242.
6. Exosomes released from human induced pluripotent stem cells-derived MSCs facilitate cutaneous wound healing by promoting collagen synthesis and angiogenesis. Zhang et al. J Transl Med. 2015 Feb 1:13:49.
7. Mesenchymal Stem Cell Exosomes Induce Proliferation and Migration of Normal and Chronic Wound Fibroblasts, and Enhance Angiogenesis In Vitro. Shabbir et al. Stem Cells Dev. 2015 Jul 15;24(14):1635-47.
8. Exosomal MicroRNAs Derived from Human Amniotic Epithelial Cells Accelerate Wound Healing by Promoting the Proliferation and Migration of Fibroblasts. Zhao et al. Stem Cells Int. 2018 Jul 25:2018:5420463.
9. In Vitro Wound Healing Activity of Wheat-Derived Nanovesicles. Sahin et al. Appl Biochem Biotechnol. 2019 Jun;188(2):381-394.
10. Skin Immunomodulation during Regeneration: Emerging New Targets. Mazini et al. J Pers Med. 2021 Jan 30;11(2):85.
11. Needle-Free Injection of Exosomes Derived from Human Dermal Fibroblast Spheroids Ameliorates Skin Photoaging. Hu et al. ACS Nano. 2019 Oct 22;13(10):11273-11282.
12. HucMSC Exosome-Delivered 14-3-3ζ Orchestrates Self-Control of the Wnt Response via Modulation of YAP During Cutaneous Regeneration. Zhang et al. Stem Cells. 2016 Oct;34(10):2485-2500.
13. Exosomes derived from human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells alleviate atopic dermatitis. Cho et al. Stem Cell Res Ther. 2018; 9: 187.
14. Human mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes accelerate wound healing of mice eczema. Wang et al. J Dermatolog Treat. 2022 May;33(3):1401-1405.
15. MicroRNA-210 overexpression promotes psoriasis-like inflammation by inducing Th1 and Th17 cell differentiation. Wu et al. J Clin Invest. 2018 Jun 1;128(6):2551-2568.
16. Exosomes: Insights and therapeutic applications in cancer. Panigrahi et al. Transl Oncol. 2022 Jul; 21: 101439.
17. Skin Brightening Efficacy of Exosomes Derived from Human Adipose Tissue-Derived Stem/Stromal Cells: A Prospective, Split-Face, Randomized Placebo-Controlled Study. Cho et al. Cosmetics. 2020; 7(4):90.
18. Efficacy of combined treatment with human adipose tissue stem cell-derived exosome-containing solution and microneedling for facial skin aging: A 12-week prospective, randomized, split-face study. Park et al. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2023 Dec;22(12):3418-3426.
19. Combination Treatment with Human Adipose Tissue Stem Cell-derived Exosomes and Fractional CO2 Laser for Acne Scars: A 12-week Prospective, Double-blind, Randomized, Split-face Study. Kwon et al.Acta Derm Venereol. 2020; 100(18): 5913.
20. https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT05813379
21. https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05969717
22. Topical Application of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Exosomes Alleviates the Imiquimod Induced Psoriasis-Like Inflammation. Zhang et al. Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Jan 13;22(2):720.
23. Microneedles-Based Transdermal Drug Delivery Systems: A Review. Hao et al. J Biomed Nanotechnol. 2017 Dec 1;13(12):1581-1597.
24. Microneedle based adipose derived stem cells-derived extracellular vesicles therapy ameliorates UV-induced photoaging in SKH-1 mice. Cao et al. J Biomed Mater Res A. 2021 Oct;109(10):1849-1857
25. Topical Application of Exosomes Derived from Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Combination with Sponge Spicules for Treatment of Photoaging. Zhang et al. Int J Nanomedicine. 2020 Apr 23:15:2859-2872.
