BEAUTY FROM WITHIN: Clinical study supports pomegranate extract for a gut-skin axis approach

What happens in the gut is reflected on the skin; gut microbiome dysbiosis translates to skin dysbiosis and often an imbalance in the gut is observed before it is on the skin, explains Dr Sivamani, MD, MS, AP, in a recent webinar.¹​ Historically, skin health and skin regimens were topically applied or were associated with topical applications. However, physicians have used some oral solutions to tackle external ailments, though this has not historically translated to the dietary supplements sector.¹​

In a recent randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial in healthy adults aged 25-55yrs (n=18, men & women), a single capsule of 250mg Pomella® (from Punica granatum​) was administered orally each day for 4 weeks.^1,2​ Researchers examined changes in facial appearance and wrinkle severity, facial biophysical properties such as sebum production, transepidermal water loss, melanin index, erythema index, shifts in gut and skin microbiome diversity, and shifts in blood short chain fatty acid (SCFA) levels.^1,2​

After only four weeks, significant shifts in microbiota were observed; for example, Bacillus genus were found to be significantly enriched after 4 weeks intervention with Pomella®. In fact, these naturally occurring skin bacteria are difficult to promote growth of, and the oral ingestion of Pomella® helped to overrepresent the Bacillus species (this is good!), which was quite impressive to see in such a short time frame.^1,2​ Mechanistically, short chain fatty acids are known to promote healthy levels of certain beneficial bacteria, and this may help to explain these facial skin microbiome augmentations for the Bacillus genus, as well as Staphylococcus epidermidis​ after Pomella® supplementation.^1,2​

In the gut, Roseburia faecis, Coprococcus eutacus,​ and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii​ were significantly enriched at 4 weeks of intervention in the Pomella® group compared to the control.^1,2​ These are beneficial gut bacterial species and promote a healthy gut microbiome. The impact to Faecalibacterim prausnitizii​ was particularly interesting as this is found in abundance in a healthy gut microbiome and is also known to produce short chain fatty acids (SCFAs).^1,2​ Because of this ability to produce SCFAs, these enrichments of beneficial bacteria also pertain to a better gut barrier and better gut health.^1,2​

Short chain fatty acids can act as postbiotics, or the bioactive byproduct of probiotics and prebiotics, in signaling from the gut to the skin. In particular, butyrate, propionate, and acetate are key amino acids known to support the gut-body axes. Butyrate is a key marker used in the gut and is associated with gut health, propionate is often associated with the liver and gut-liver axis, and acetate is used in systemic circulation at higher levels. While the conversation historically has focused on butyrate, the impact to propionate and acetate are of particular importance as this sheds light into systemic circulation and the impact to the gut-skin axis.¹​ Researchers found short-chain fatty acids (SHFAs) shifted in the Pomella® group with a 38% (vs 1.8% in placebo) in acetates and 162% (vs 0.10% in placebo) in propionates.^1,2​

When looking at facial biophysical properties, in four weeks oral Pomella® had a significant improvement to the depth and width of wrinkles (wrinkle severity). Researchers showed a 6.2% reduction in facial wrinkle severity in the Pomella® group compared to the control (p<0.01) in healthy subjects 25-55yrs at 250mg/day, which is very impressive as it is not common to see these types of impacts in only four weeks.^1,2​ 

Additional skin health properties can be examined by looking at the microbiota in a person’s gut; if there is an overexpression of Eggerthellaceae​ in their gut, a species of bacteria that is able to metabolize Pomella’s punicalagins into urolithins, the beneficial effects are compounded.¹​ This is important because there are statistically significant shifts in key biophysical properties for these individuals, meaning that while all subjects taking Pomella® showed significant improvement, this subset showed additional improvements beyond those without an overexpression of Eggerthellaceae​ in their gut. ^1,2​ Further, the Pomella® group had a trend to increase urolithin A concentrations by 6.6%.^1,2​ This supports previous data and shows that not only does Pomella® shift the gut microbiome, but also reacts to the specific bacterial strains as well.^1-4*​ This helps further suggest a strong connection for Pomella’s impact to the gut-skin axis.

Pomella’s polyphenols and gut microbial metabolites contribute to the health benefits associated with skin-gut axis. Pomella®, a patented pomegranate fruit extract standardized to deliver bioactive phytochemicals including punicalagins, is a promising solution supporting gut and digestive health, skin health, and beauty from within.

Learn more by watching the full webinar here: Beauty from within clinical study finds Pomella® extract supports skin health benefits and associated influence on gut-skin axis​

1. RK Sivamani, MD, MS, AP. (2022 Sept 15 – initial air date). NutraIngredients-USA: Beauty from within clinical study finds Pomella® extract supports skin health benefits and associated influence on gut-skin axis (webinar). Retreived 2022 Sept 15 from https://onlinexperiences.com/scripts/Server.nxp?LASCmd=AI:4;F:QS!10100&ShowUUID=C50025A8-04BC-4F71-8D65-3ACC9D198281&AffiliateData=Verdure_Promo​
2. Chakkalakal M, Pan A, Nadora D, Gahoonia N, Dumont A, Burney W, Chambers CJ, & Sivamani RK. (2022). Prospective randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study of oral pomegranate extract [as Pomella®] on skin health, skin microbiome, and influence on the gut-skin axis. Presented at the Integrative Dermatology Symposium, September 2022, Tucson, AZ.
3. Mertens-Talcott SU et al. Absorption, metabolism, and antioxidant effects of pomegranate (Punica granatum L) polyphenols after ingestion of a standardized extract in healthy human volunteers. J Agric Food Chem. 2006 Sep 06. 54(23): 8956-8961. doi: 10.1021/jf061674h
4. Yuan T et al. Pomegranate’s neuroprotective effects are mediated by urolithins, its ellagitannin-gut microbial derived metabolites. ACS Chem Neurosci. 2015 Nov 11. 7(1): 26-33. doi: 10.1021/acschemneuro.5b00260

* For more references, visit: https://vs-corp.com/research/pomella/​