More than 30 years ago in Russia,
experiments were performed with the
aim of developing an effective treatment
for diseases related to ionizing
radiation. Among the biologica1ly active
materials tested was deoxyribonucleic
acid (DNA) extracted from the gonadic
tissue of male sturgeons. The extract
was carefully purified, depolymerized
and neutralized with sodium hydroxide
according documented procedures.1.2
The extract later received the INCI
name Sodium DNA.
Positive feedback on sodium DNA
was obtained in 1986, when it was
employed to treat diseases related to the
Chernobyl nuclear disaster, however
the results were never precisely quantified.
Indeed, in animal studies carried
out some years later,3 the same compound
was shown to protect and repair
y-radiation-induced lesions. In the following
years, many clinical tests proved
its efficacy at treating different types of
skin lesions and illnesses.4,5 Scientists
looked at its nucleotides, the basic units
of nucleic acids. They found that nucleotide
segments of DNA with a molecular
mass from 250 to 500 kD were able to
control the formation of wrinkles. Moreover,
intradermal administration ofDNA
fragments in aesthetic surgery patients
accelerated wound healing.6,7 This paved
the way to research on sodium DNA as
an antiaging active in cosmetics