What Are Polynucleotides: The Ingredients Guide

In the ever-evolving world of aesthetics, new ingredients and formulations emerge daily. It’s important that we to stay informed about industry advancements to keep abreast of patient trends. While familiar substances like hyaluronic acid and poly-l-lactic acid have become commonplace in the industry in the form of fillers, innovation in the aesthetics industry continues to soar with the rise of an exciting newcomer: polynucleotides. With their rapid surge in popularity, we’re exploring your common queries such as ‘what are polynucleotides’ and how you can seamlessly integrate them into your clinic.

What Are Polynucleotides?

Polynucleotides are the hottest topic of the aesthetic industry at the moment and with their rapid surge in popularity, it’s essential to grasp the essence of these restorative injectables. But what are polynucleotides, exactly, and how can they help resolve your patients’ top concerns?

In the world of aesthetics, polynucleotides are known as the future of regenerative injectables – hailed for their ability to rejuvenate and regenerate the skin, similarly to skin boosters like Seventy Hyal 2000. However, unlike skin boosters, injectable polynucleotides are renowned for their wound-healing and bio-stimulating properties. Although similar to skin boosters, polynucleotide injectables are separated and well-recognised for their complex structures and ability to rejuvenate the skin with a natural result.

Taking a scientific approach to ‘what are polynucleotides’, these injectables employ filtered, ultra-purified, and sterilised DNA fractions with the aim of rejuvenating the skin. Predominantly derived from salmon DNA*, polynucleotides are designed to stimulate fibroblasts, promoting tissue repair, enhancing cell turnover, increasing elasticity, and stimulating collagen production. Additionally, they possess the ability to soothe inflammation and restore the balance of melanocyte activity (skin pigmentation), resulting in a more even and refreshed skin tone without adding volume like traditional dermal fillers.

Also frequently known as PN or PDRN, polynucleotides are categorised as a regenerative treatment with the purpose of revitalising the skin on a deeper level. Each polynucleotide strand consists of a repeating pattern of a sugar molecule and a phosphate group. DNA and RNA represent the two main categories of nucleic acids. In simpler terms, these injectables essentially provide DNA molecules that encourage the skin to repair itself and promote various skin-boosting benefits, both immediate and long-term. This exciting advancement in regenerative medicine focuses on restoring normal cellular function by repairing the skin on a more intense level.

Like many other regenerative medicine tools, polynucleotides have a long history of being used in general medicine before their introduction to the world of medical aesthetics with over 90 clinical trials to back this up. Studies have reported their successful treatments with the evidence for polynucleotide’s power remaining undisputed in both the medical and aesthetic fields.

What Can Polynucleotides Be Used For?

Aside from an increase in search queries for ‘what are polynucleotides’, another question we often see is ‘what can polynucleotides be used for?’.

Unlike some injectables, polynucleotides are an exceptionally versatile and all-around treatment. With polynucleotide products developed with a host of concerns in mind, these restorative injectables can be used to treat perceived flaws across the body and face, including the eye area and stretch marks.

Excellent at boosting fibroblast production and inducing deep tissue repair processes, polynucleotides enhance the skin’s quality whilst also aiding with other concerns. Some other key usages of polynucleotides include:

• Acne scarring
• Skin conditions such as rosacea, melasma and hyperpigmentation
• Atrophic scarring
• Alopecia and androgenic hair loss
• Deep lines and sunken wrinkles
• Skin rehydration and rejuvenation
• Elastosis
• Facial ageing such as sagging and the formation of fine lines
• Lumpy scars

How Long Does It Take for Polynucleotide Injections to Work?

Like other injectables, polynucleotides also require a period of downtime and maintenance treatments for optimal efficacy. Whilst this completely depends on your patients aims and the product you choose to use, we recommend that your patient undergoes a course of at least three treatments for maximum results.

Again, whilst it may differ from patient to patient, most people notice a difference after 3-5 weeks, with the target results expected from 3+ months after the course of treatment has been issued. By recommending your patient undergo a series of treatments, you can ensure continued active stimulation of fibroblast production which will essentially maximise both the short and long-term results.

Moreover, for each treatment, it will depend on the degree of ageing that your patients’ tissue has and its ability to create quality tissue when stimulated by the polynucleotide It’s also crucial for you to remind your patients on the importance of a healthy diet, reducing alcohol consumption and smoking and to also follow a nutritious diet to help repair the skin holistically.

What Is the Difference Between Polynucleotides and Dermal Fillers?

Despite there being different types of dermal filler, the most well-known and perhaps the most popular types are hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers.

The biggest difference between the two injectables is that hyaluronic acid dermal fillers work by restoring and adding volume to the skin. With dermal fillers, the results are almost instantaneous with visible contouring and augmentation – often lasting up to 18 months depending on the type of dermal filler used.

On the other hand, polynucleotides work to stimulate fibroblasts at a cellular level to improve skin health. Contrarily to hyaluronic acid dermal fillers, whilst polynucleotides can add slight volume to the injected area, their main goal is rejuvenation.In a controlled study comparing the effects of polynucleotides and hyaluronic acid fillers for periocular rejuvenation, results showed that the improvement rates of skin elasticity and hydration decreased over time in both groups. However, the polynucleotide group showed a higher improvement rate in comparison to the hyaluronic acid filler.

For more information on the study, see here.

What Are the Best Polynucleotides?

As the regenerative injectables category continues to grow, more polynucleotide injectables are added to the market almost daily. One of our favourite brands of polynucleotide injectables is Vitaran.

VITARAN is an injectable bio-revitaliser that is part of the polynucleotide family. Hailed as the latest innovation in aesthetics, VITARAN is a CE-marked injectable that is intended to regenerate and repair the skin on a cellular level. Derived from 100% filtered fragments of salmon DNA, VITARAN stimulates fibroblasts in the skin to aid in the synthesis of collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid for a rejuvenated appearance. From the beauty corner of the world, South Korea, VITARAN offers patients a natural solution to improve their skin and tissues on a deeper level and helps to prolong skin vitality and health.

With two products available in the range, VITARAN I and VITARAN II, these injectables are the world’s first, 100%, quality-controlled polynucleotides and are an amazing option for your patients to address a host of concerns. While both VITARAN I and VITARAN II share the same exceptional quality, they are specifically formulated for different areas of application. For example, VITARAN I is best suited for treating the delicate undereye area, while VITARAN II is best tailored for use on other facial regions, scars, and the chest.

For more on the VITARAN range, shop here or see our blog ‘What Is VITARAN‘.