Effects of the Nd:YAG 1320-nm laser on skin rejuvenation: Clinical and histological correlations

Abstract

The neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser is a popular non-ablative treatment used for skin rejuvenation. The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate the clinical effects, coupled with a quantitative assessment, of the histological changes in response to Nd:YAG 1320-nm laser treatment of periocular wrinkles. Six volunteers with Fitzpatrick skin types III and IV and Glogau class I-II wrinkles were subjected to 3 months of Nd:YAG 1320-nm treatment in the periocular area (six sessions at 2-week intervals). Volunteers were photographed, and skin biopsies were obtained at baseline as well as 3 and 6 months after the start of treatments. Quantitative evaluation of total elastin, newly synthesized tropoelastin, collagen types I, III and VII, and newly synthesized collagen was performed using a computerized morphometric analysis. A noticeable clinical and histological improvement was observed after Nd:YAG 1320-nm treatment. Collagen types I, III and VII, as well as newly synthesized collagen, together with tropoelastin showed a statistically significant increase in response to treatment, while the mean level of total elastin was significantly decreased after treatment. Our data suggest that Nd:YAG 1320 nm is an effective treatment for skin rejuvenation as it stimulates the repair processes, and reverses the clinical, as well as the histopathological, signs of skin aging.

Reference values for skin microanatomy: A systematic review and meta-analysis of ex vivo studies

“…Results of analyses for GET 3,20–36 and SCT 3,8,10,35,37–41 by anatomic location are in Supplemental Information.…”

Fractional versus ablative erbium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser resurfacing for facial rejuvenation: An objective evaluation

“…10,11 Indirect immunofluorescence was used to evaluate type VII collagen (1:600; sc-33710, Santa Cruz Biotechnology) and tropoelastin (tropoelastin GA317, 1:400; Elastin Products, Owensville, MO). 11,12 Statistical analysis…”

Expression of transforming growth factor‐β after different non‐invasive facial rejuvenation modalities

“…1,2 Recently, non-invasive rejuvenation was reported to be an effective esthetic treatment that reverses the signs of photo-damaged skin. Many of these modalities have been well studied, but others have not.…”

“…TGF-b also plays an important role in tissue remodeling and repair as well as in increasing dermal collagen content. 2,[17][18][19] Therefore, the present study focuses primarily on investigating the potential effects of non-invasive treatments for skin rejuvenation by quantifying the histological changes of TGF-b in response to six different noninvasive modalities: radiofrequency (RF); Nd:YAG (neodymium:yttrium-aluminium-garnet) 1320-nm laser; Er: YAG (erbium:yttrium-aluminium-garnet) 2940-nm laser mini-peel; intense pulsed light (IPL); mesotherapy injection and an electro-optical synergy (ELOS) technique. 12,14 The main constituent of dermal extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins is collagen, primarily type I (80-85%) and type III (10-15%), which provides strength and resilience to skin.…”