Overview

• Researchers used three-dimensional human epidermal equivalents to demonstrate that physiological levels of vitamin C thicken viable keratinocyte layers without compromising the stratum corneum
• Treatment with 0.1 to 1.0 mM vitamin C produced marked increases in Ki-67–positive cells and progressive epidermal thickening over a two-week period
• Genome-wide methylation profiling identified over 10,000 hypomethylated regions correlating with a 1.6- to 75.2-fold upregulation of 12 key proliferation-related genes
• Biochemical assays showed vitamin C sustains iron-dependent TET enzyme cycles by reducing Fe³⁺ to Fe²⁺, enabling continuous DNA demethylation
• Findings point to vitamin C as a promising nutrient-based strategy to counter age-related skin thinning by reactivating essential regeneration genes