Antioxidant Serum Improves Laser Recovery

In a study published in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine earlier this year, researchers discovered an antioxidant serum helped decrease recovery time and improve healing after fractional ablative laser treatments. Jill Waibel, M.D., and her team investigated whether laser-assisted delivery of vitamins C and E plus ferulic acid immediately following fractional ablative laser treatments would improve wound healing. They also aimed to evaluate the potential molecular markers involved in the wound-healing process. The researchers performed a double-blinded, prospective, single-center, randomized split-face trial of topical formula #740019 (vitamin C, vitamin E and ferulic acid) after fractional ablative laser resurfacing for photodamage. For the study, 15 healthy men and women (30-55 years old) were treated with the antioxidant serum on one side of the face and a placebo serum on the other within two minutes of fractional ablative CO2 laser surgery. They continued daily split-face application of the topical serums during the healing process. Patients were evaluated daily for the first week using photographs, patient questionnaires, and molecular evaluation. Participants experienced decreased edema on the treatment side on day seven and decreased erythema on days three and five. Molecularly, the expression of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was significantly increased at day five on the lesions treated with the vitamin C, vitamin E, and ferulic acid formulation compared to the control solution.