Background: Over the past decade injectable hyaluronan (HA) formulations have been widely used to decrease the visibility of skin aging. However, little basic research has been performed to address their effect on dermal skin fibroblasts. Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether human skin fibroblasts are affected by exogenous non-cross-linked HA with respect to proliferation, migration and extracellular matrix composition. Methods: The effect of a non-cross-linked HA on proliferation, migration and gene expression of human dermal fibroblasts was determined. Furthermore, affinity histochemistry of pericellular HA was performed. Results: Proliferation was significantly stimulated by HA whereas migration was not affected. Importantly, exogenous HA was incorporated into fine HA filaments of the pericellular fibroblast matrix. Conclusion: This is the first evidence that a HA formulation used in humans for cosmetic reasons stimulates fibroblast proliferation and is utilized to assemble a supramolecular pericellular structure.

Keywords:
Hyaluronan, Extracellular matrix, Skin aging
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