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Exploring the Impact of Hydrolyzed Collagen Oral Supplementation on Skin Rejuvenation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Dian Andriani Ratna Dewi, Abraham Arimuko, Lilik Norawati, Satya W. Yenny, Nenden L. Setiasih, Angki Perdiyana, Nabila Arkania, Farrasila Nadhira, Ni Wiliantari
Cureus 2023 15(12):e50231

Bibliography

PubMed
PMID 38192916
PubMed Central
PMC10773595
DOI
10.7759/cureus.50231
Funding
No external funding stated; authors declared no financial support was received from any organisation for the submitted work.
Competing interests
All authors declared, in compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organisations that might have an interest in the submitted work, and no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Study snapshot

DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis of randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials, conducted per PRISMA and Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions (v6.3.2022)
ModelHealthy adults (participants under 20 years and those with skin conditions excluded) pooled across 14 included RCTs, 2017–2023
Sample14 RCTs, 967 total participants (composition across pooled trials: 92% female, 8% male; HC arms 51%, placebo 49%)
InterventionOral hydrolysed collagen (HC) supplementation vs placebo; five hydration studies and four elasticity studies used fish-sourced collagen, the remainder used non-fish (chicken, bovine, porcine or unspecified) sources; several products combined HC with other actives (vitamins, hyaluronic acid, coenzyme Q10, ornithine)
Duration4 to 12 weeks across the 14 pooled trials
EndpointsSkin hydration (corneometry); Skin elasticity (cutometry: gross elasticity R2, net elasticity R5, elastic portion R7); Wrinkles (VISIA 6th-generation skin analysis system); Transepidermal water loss, TEWL (corneometer-paired measurement); Skin firmness (self-reported VAS questionnaire); Skin radiance (self-reported VAS questionnaire)

What the study showed, in plain terms

This 2023 systematic review pools 14 randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of oral hydrolysed collagen for skin rejuvenation, covering 967 participants over four-to-twelve-week supplementation periods.

Across the pooled data, hydrolysed collagen significantly improved skin hydration and skin elasticity compared with placebo, with the effect robust across subgroup analyses by collagen source (fish vs non-fish) and by supplementation duration. Skin wrinkling and transepidermal water loss also improved significantly, while firmness and radiance trended favourably without reaching statistical significance.

This is now the third skin-focused systematic review/meta-analysis in this Data Center, alongside the de Miranda (2021) and Pu (2023) reviews. Together they give a consistent, high-tier picture: oral hydrolysed collagen reliably improves objectively measured skin hydration and elasticity, with wrinkle and barrier-function benefits emerging more variably depending on the outcome measured and study duration.

Key findings

  • Skin hydration: significant increase with HC vs placebo by source subgroup (fish + unknown-source studies combined; Z=6.34, p<0.00001; effect size 0.72, 95% CI 0.43–1.02) and by duration subgroup across all 14 studies (Z=7.42, p<0.00001; effect size 0.58, 95% CI 0.42–0.73).
  • Skin elasticity by source: significant increase (Z=4.24, p<0.0001; effect size 0.54, 95% CI 0.29–0.79); by duration: significant increase (Z=6.16, p<0.00001; effect size 0.65, 95% CI 0.44–0.85); by cutometer measurement type (gross/net/elastic portion): significant increase (Z=5.97, p<0.00001; effect size 0.53, 95% CI 0.35–0.70).
  • Wrinkles (VISIA system, 7 studies): significant reduction with HC vs placebo (Z=2.07, p=0.04; effect size −0.21, 95% CI −0.40 to −0.01).
  • Transepidermal water loss (3 studies): significant reduction with HC vs placebo (Z=4.69, p<0.00001; effect size −0.76, 95% CI −1.08 to −0.44).
  • Skin firmness (3 studies) and skin radiance (2 studies) both trended favourably for HC but did not reach statistical significance (firmness: Z=1.04, p=0.30; radiance: Z=1.83, p=0.07).
  • Risk-of-bias assessment (RoB-2) found low risk in 7 of 14 RCTs and unclear risk (chiefly around blinding of participants/researchers) in the other 7; funnel plots showed a symmetrical, balanced distribution consistent with low publication bias.

What this study can and cannot tell us

  • Substantial heterogeneity across pooled analyses (I² up to 78% for the source subgroup), driven by differing HC sources, doses, co-formulated actives (vitamins, HA, CoQ10, ornithine) and outcome-measurement instruments across the 14 trials.
  • Wrinkle, firmness and radiance outcomes were each pooled from only 2–7 studies, smaller evidence bases than the hydration and elasticity pooled analyses, and firmness/radiance did not reach statistical significance.
  • Unclear risk of bias (chiefly blinding of participants and personnel) was identified in half of the included RCTs.
  • Several included products combined collagen with other bioactives (antioxidants, hyaluronic acid, glucosamine, vitamins, ornithine), making it difficult to attribute the pooled benefit to collagen peptides alone in every trial.
  • As the authors note, large-scale RCTs incorporating participants' lifestyle factors (diet, hydration habits) are needed to confirm these pooled effect sizes.

Related papers in the corpus

Tier 1
Effects of Hydrolyzed Collagen Supplementation on Skin Aging: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Roseane B. de Miranda et al. · International Journal of Dermatology · 2021
Tier 1
Effects of Oral Collagen for Skin Anti-Aging: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Szu-Yu Pu et al. · Nutrients · 2023
Tier 2
The Effect of Oral Collagen Peptide Supplementation on Skin Moisture and the Dermal Collagen Network: Evidence from an Ex Vivo Model and Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trials
Jérome Asserin et al. · Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology · 2015

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Dr. Khaled Mahmoud, MBBChCritical Care Medicine, Longevity Science & Editorial Direction Dr. Amr Yasser, PhDCardiometabolic, Musculoskeletal, Gut & Bioavailability Dr. Abdulla Mostafa, PhDCellular Senescence, Neurological, Mitochondrial & Brain-Ageing Biology