Jefferson Investigates: Cosmeceuticals, Intervention for Smoking, Mitochondria in Spinal Health

Cosmeceuticals are skin care products that contain active ingredients intended to have medicinal or therapeutic effects. These products may promise to make skin look younger, clearer, or glowier, and their popularity has exploded in recent years. But what does the data behind this trend say?

A new study led by dermatology researcher Stephanie R. Jackson Cullison, MD, PhD, and resident physician Emily Correia, MD, analyzed insights from Google Trends and TikTok Analytics to see how interest in cosmeceuticals has evolved over the past two decades. Their findings shed light on how the pandemic transformed the skin care market and pose important questions about the role of dermatologists.

The researchers tracked mentions of terms related to cosmeceuticals on Google and Tiktok from 2004 to 2023. On both platforms, retinol — an anti-aging and anti-acne product — was the most talked-about ingredient, followed by hyaluronic acid, salicylic acid, glycolic acid, and vitamin C. Their results showed that people have increasingly searched for and discussed these products over time, with a sharp spike during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Dr. Jackson suspects this trend stemmed from people having more opportunity to see themselves on Zoom calls and having more time to devote to skin care through the convenience of remote work and has been sustained by growing social media content creation and engagement.

According to Dr. Jackson, the results also raise questions about the role of physicians in the social media era, where more patients get their information online. Some dermatologists and professional organizations have taken to platforms such as TikTok to educate the public on skin care, though in a profession where demands regularly outpace current resources, that extra commitment isn’t realistic for everyone. Healthcare institutions can help fill this void by providing platforms through blogs and social media to leverage the expertise of their physicians. However, with the prevalence of misinformation on social media platforms, Dr. Jackson worries that if healthcare providers or institutions don’t establish an online presence and disseminate accurate information, people could be misled.

“Do we really want the information on skin care to come from product marketing campaigns and influencers without advanced skin-specific education and training?” Dr. Jackson asked. “Or, should we take ownership of this space as dermatologists, and start to fill that void?”

By Marilyn Perkins

Chinese-American and Korean-American immigrants have a high prevalence of smoking, influenced by cultural and social norms. They’re also less likely to see doctors to discuss smoking cessation or lung cancer screenings, in part due to language barriers and limited access to health care.

Because lung cancer is a leading cause of death among Asian Americans, researchers at Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center (SKCCC) created a culturally sensitive intervention, called Connect4LungHealth, designed to reach smokers in immigrant communities.

“We focused on lung health, because there is a lot of fatalism in this community,” says Hee-Soon Juon, MSN, PhD, a population science researcher at SKCCC, and the study’s senior author.  “They say, ‘Once you’ve got cancer, it is God’s will; I will die. I don’t want to detect it early; it doesn’t matter.’”

The 36 Chinese-American and Korean-American immigrants who participated in the study received text messages in their native language three times weekly for a month. (Half had limited English proficiency.)

Participants in the Connect4LungHealth intervention group received messages about smoking cessation and lung health; control group participants received messages about healthy eating. Connect4LungHealth participants received weekly phone calls about lung cancer screening from community health workers who spoke Chinese or Korean. Control-group participants had access to community health workers but didn’t receive calls.

After three months, more Connect4LungHealth participants cut back on smoking, and 40% went for lung cancer screenings, compared to 12.5% of the control group.

Community health workers played a key role in getting participants screened, by helping with referrals and insurance coverage.

“That process is not easily navigated by immigrants with a language barrier,” says Kuang-Yi Wen, PhD, also a population science researcher at SKCCC, and the study’s first author. “The support of community health workers really made this intervention successful.”

The researchers hope to conduct a larger study in collaboration with their co-author Julie Barta, MD, director of Jefferson Health’s lung cancer screening program, exploring messaging through social media apps popular in Chinese and Korean communities.

Jefferson graduate student Rebecca No and Drexel University graduate student Kailin Li were involved in the research.

By Lisa Fields

Most people know mitochondria as the “powerhouses of the cell” — organelles that turn glucose and oxygen from the blood into ATP, our cell’s primary energy source. But what happens in cells that don’t have a blood supply, like those in the intervertebral discs of the spine or the joints in our hips and knees? These avascular cells rely on oxygen-independent processes for energy, raising questions about the role of their mitochondria.

A new study published in Nature Communications, led by Makarand Risbud, PhD, James J. Maguire Jr. Professor of Spine Research and Director of Orthopedic Research at Sidney Kimmel Medical College, shows that mitochondria remain vital in these cells — not for energy production, but for maintaining cell metabolism and overall joint and spine health. His team focused on OPA1, a protein required for mitochondrial fusion, the process by which two mitochondria merge to repair damage and adjust to cellular metabolic needs.

When nucleus pulposus cells, at the center of the discs, were genetically engineered to produce less OPA1, their mitochondria shrank and lost their normal structure. The cells’ metabolism also shifted, and other organelles, including peroxisomes, early endosomes, and the cis-Golgi, were disrupted. In mice, loss of OPA1 in nucleus pulposus cells led to broader health effects, including age-related disc degeneration, osteoarthritis, and weaker vertebrae.

“Even though these mitochondria are not necessarily needed for energy production, they still play an essential role,” explains Dr. Risbud. “They generate a lot of important intermediates for different biosynthetic pathways, and they’re crucial for maintaining the overall health of these cells.”

The findings suggest that mitochondria act as metabolic hubs in avascular tissues and that protecting their function could help stave off age-related degeneration in the spine and joints. Dr. Risbud says future research will investigate how mitochondria interact with other organelles, and whether these pathways differ during fetal development and the lifespan.

“One thing that’s for sure is that maintaining functioning and healthy mitochondria is critical,” Dr. Risbud said.

By Marilyn Perkins