Ben Stern, Jeff Bonavia, Charlie McCanna, Kellen Sheedy, Tommy Kuehn, and Alex Ringeisen studied the active ingredient in Avotone anti-wrinkle cream during the 2006-07 academic year. They carried out a double-blind, controlled investigation to determine if topical application of Avotone reduces electromyogram (EMG) signals from muscles lifting the eyebrow. They presented their findings at the UW-Madison Undergraduate Research Symposium in April 2007.
Title and Abstract of Poster:
Topical application of 10% acetyl hexapeptide-3 predicted to reduce corrugator supercilii activity
Acetyl hexapeptide-3 mimics the SNAP-25 portion of the SNARE complex, inhibiting the exocytosis of acetylcholine from presynaptic motorneurons. Acetyl hexapeptide-3 is the “active” ingredient in the Avotone® anti-wrinkle cream. We hypothesize that the topical application of 10% acetyl hexapeptide-3 will decrease the activity of the corrugator supercilii muscle in human subjects aged 18 to 24 as measured by EMG signal magnitude. We are collecting EMG signals before and after topical application of acetyl hexapeptide-3, as subjects maximally contract this muscle. The control subjects apply Avotone that does not contain acetyl hexapeptide-3, while the experimental subjects apply Avotone a cream containing 10% acetyl hexapeptide-3. We expect a significant decrease in the mean corrugator supercilii activity after a 30 day treatment period.