Chia Nan University of Pharmacy & Science

Twenty subjects were recruited and informed to apply the lotion gel twice per day (3~5 mg/cm2 once) for 4 weeks. Two kinds of facial lotiongels, "A" gel and "B" gel, were provided to every subject. The "A" gel (TAC/Collagen lotiongel) was applied on subjects' right face and the "B" gel (placebo lotion) on their left face (formula showed as Table S2). Ordinary cosmetics usage was permitted but any change of usage was not allowed during the intervention. Outdoor activities (sun exposure) and the usage of sunscreen lotion were not limited in this study. Every subject was required to inspect his/her skin condition on week 0 and 4. Before inspection, the face was washed with water and waited for 30 min in an air-conditioned room (25°C, humility 55 ± 5%). Among these 20 subjects, eight of them had severe acne with at least two acne lesions on each side of face when participating this trial. They were instructed for more visits to evaluate the symptom of acne on week 1 and 2.

Skin hydration (Corneometer CM825, Courage + Khazaka Electroni, Germany), sebum (Callegari 1930, Italy), and inflammation detection (Chroma Meter MM-500, Minolta, Japan) of upper cheek were measured in every subject. The improvement in inflammation was positively correlated with a decrease of a* value or an increase of L* value. VISIA® Complexion Analysis (VISIA® Complexion Analysis, U.S.A.) was also employed to measure the skin inflammation, porphyrins numbers and brown spot numbers of whole face. The result was presented as the mean value and the relative percentage (%) to the baseline.