Apple extract and caloric restriction: a natural treatment for cellulite

The search for a natural treatment for cellulite is one of the focal points of Provital’s contribution to IFSCC 2024, the scientific Congress where leading international brands meet to discuss major breakthroughs in cosmetic science annually. With 16,000 members around the world and formed by prestigious scientists and brands, including L’Óreal, Provital’s commitment to advance scientific science and technology has led the company to actively participate in IFSCC 2024 and showcase some of its most important developments this past year. The new development for a natural treatment for cellulite stands out among them.

To give some background: the underlying causes of cellulite lie in the number, size and conformational arrangement of adipocytes (the specialized cells that store energy in the form of fat). At a cellular level, cellulite can be understood as the enlargement of these fat cells because of an overaccumulation of lipids, leading to cellular hypertrophy (that is, increase in the size of these fat cells). From this perspective, a natural treatment for cellulite should aim at stimulating lipolysis, the mechanism by which fat stored in adipocytes (fat cells) is restrained and reversed. While targeted caloric restriction is often a trigger for lipolysis, Provital’s research has identified apple flower extract as a promising candidate that mimics caloric restriction effects in reducing cellulite.

As an advancement presented at IFCSS 2024, this natural extract merges the best of botanical cosmetics with breakthrough cosmetic science, bringing forward a revolutionary approach to those looking for natural remedies to get rid of cellulite.

Apple flower extract: a revolutionary natural treatment for cellulite

The apple flower extract developed by Provital stands out as a natural treatment for cellulite that targets caloric restriction cellular mechanisms.. That’s in line with body-shaping formulas that aim at restraining adipogenesis and, in turn, stimulating lipolysis.

As such, research to verify the potential of apple (Pyrus malus) flower extract (PME) concentrated on evaluating the ingredient’s impact on human preadipocytes.

To evaluate the lipolytic effect, adipocytes were incubated with varying concentrations of PME for 24 hours, to then apply transcriptomic and proteomic analyses  to investigate the mechanism of action of PME lipolytic effect on adipocytes.

Results showcased apple flower extract as a promising candidate for developing a natural treatment for cellulite:

• As PME induces a dose-dependent decrease in the amount of lipidic vesicles during the differentiation of human adipocytes,  the extract is shown as an inhibitor of adipocyte differentiation and reduces its capacity for triglyceride storage. 
• PME increases the ability to hydrolyze triglycerides, as well as  glycerol release from adipocytes. 

All in all, this research showed how PME induces lipolysis in human mature adipocytes. 

A closer, more holistic look through multi-omic analysis confirmed the extraordinary potential for this natural treatment for cellulite thanks to its capacity to mimic caloric restriction, as seen below.

The multi-omic analysis reveals how apple flower extract mimics caloric restriction

Applications of multi‐omic analysis to understand human diseases continue expanding through innovative scientific research, and cosmetic science is not an exception.

Simply put, multi-omic analysis involve a comprehensive look at the different “omics” fields (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics…), in an effort to understand bodily processes from a holistic point of view that looks at different types of molecules and their roles and relationships.

In the case of Provital’s research regarding thisapple flower extract, several  multi-omic analyses revealed that the apple flowers alter the pattern of adipocyte genes and proteins from an anabolic to a catabolic state, as the cells experience a deficit of nutrients and energy.

The analysis found the pyrus malus flower extract thus mimics caloric restriction, provoking a lack of energy and nutrients in the adipocyte that acts on different intracellular pathways to activate lipolysis. 

One of these pathways is the PI3K/Akt signaling cascade, which downstream regulates the mTOR pathway. Under low energy conditions, inhibition of mTOR leads to the induction of autophagy. Therefore, Pyrus malus flower extract mimics the caloric restriction in the adipocyte by impairing the formation of the mTORC complex and inducing autophagy of the lipid storage through lipolysis.

This represents another breakthrough advancement in identifying cutting-edge natural extracts for developing a natural treatment for cellulite, one that effectively merges advanced science and natural cosmetics for achieving top efficacy.