Peptides are currently popular in skincare because of their significant anti-aging benefits and their ability to boost collagen production, ultimately reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, thus making them highly desirable in anti-aging skincare products. Additionally, peptides improve the skin’s barrier, helping it retain moisture, protect against environmental damage, and reduce irritation, all of which are essential for maintaining healthy, glowing skin.

Another important aspect of peptides is their versatility; different peptides serve various functions such as reducing inflammation, enhancing skin elasticity, and promoting wound healing, making them suitable for a wide range of skincare concerns. Dr Aravind Badiger, Technical Director, BDR Pharmaceuticals, says, “The use of peptides as active compounds in the pharmaceutical industry is growing because of the diverse health benefits, especially in skincare products, due to their availability as short chains of links of amino acids. These molecules are biologically active and play a crucial part in the cell signalling and cellular signalling processes in the body and are involved in biochemical processes like inflammation, wound healing, among others.”

Pharmaceutically, peptides provide quite a unique approach due to the fact that they selectively bind to the receptors on the cell surface. Thus, the targeted interaction means that peptides can produce desired therapeutic effects and therefore are of importance when making new drugs. Dr Badiger adds, “For skincare, peptides are known to be a great component since they trigger the formation of collagen. Collagen is a type of protein required in the dermis layer of the skin to keep the skin firm and elastic and the production of collagen decreases with age. Due to increased collagen production, peptides result in reducing wrinkle and fine line making the skin appear younger.”

In addition, peptides are capable of emulating the actions of other natural products like the growth factors that play crucial roles in the repair and regeneration of tissues. In dermatology, peptides are used in an attempt to modify the permeability of the skin, increasing its moisturising capacity and increasing its resistance to the potentially damaging effects of UV radiation and pollutants.

“Apart from healing properties, peptides have been the subject of research for their anti-microbial factors. This research is notably applicable in skin infections, and insights from this work may provide potential replacements for antibiotics and aid in the fight against antibiotic resistance,” opines Dr Badiger.

Nonetheless, there are some hurdles within the framework of peptide-based therapies. A major disadvantage is that these materials have low thermal stability and are prone to degradation. Peptides can degrade quickly in formulations or when subjected to certain conditions and thus, their efficacy is affected. Addressing these stability issues by using advanced formulation approaches and methods of administration is essential for realizing the therapeutic virtues of peptides.

Peptides have emerged as a highly attractive field in drug discovery with particularly significant implications to the skin care industry. These can be used with great effect in today’s biotechnology-oriented society in order to refine treatments for the skin with targeted biological applications and mechanisms that fight the aging process. It will therefore be crucial to focus on the development of new peptide technologies and formulation techniques in an effort to harness the full therapeutic potential of the preparations.

The major challenges in these factors, such stability and delivery, allow researchers to open up new possibilities for peptidergic treatments being used in the mainstream drugs for the future health care needs of people to bring the much-needed personalized solutions that can enhance the probability of health and skincare.