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. 2023 Dec;29(3):97-111.
doi: 10.6118/jmm.22042.

Skin Rejuvenation in Women using Menopausal Hormone Therapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Affiliations

Skin Rejuvenation in Women using Menopausal Hormone Therapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Laura Pivazyan et al. J Menopausal Med. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) on skin aging in menopausal women.

Methods: Studies were identified by searching PubMed, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases using the key words "hormone replacement therapy" AND "skin" AND "menopausal." Studies that used and compared oral/transdermal MHT with placebo or another type of treatment in menopausal women aged 45-55 years were selected.

Results: From 1,526 studies identified, 15 studies comprising 1,589 patients were included in the final analysis. Our meta-analysis aimed to compare skin elasticity (standard [Std] mean difference = 0.28; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.03-0.54; P = 0.03), skin thickness (Std. mean difference = 1.27; 95% CI, 0.88-1.66; P < 0.00001), collagen content (Std. mean difference = 2.01; 95% CI, 1.42-2.61; P < 0.00001), and skin dryness (Std. mean difference = 0.15; 95% CI, -0.05 to 0.35; P = 0.14).

Conclusions: MHT increases elasticity and collagen content in the skin, thereby reducing the severity of wrinkles and increasing skin thickness. Nevertheless, more well-conducted clinical trials are required to answer all questions in an evidence-based manner.

Keywords: Aging; Hormone replacement therapy; Menopause; Postmenopause; Skin.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. PRISMA 2020 flow diagram. aConsider, if feasible to do so, reporting the number of records identified from each database or register searched (rather than the total number across all databases/registers). bIf automation tools were used, indicate how many records were excluded by a human and how many were excluded by automation tools. Adapted from the article of Page et al. (BMJ 2021;372:n71) [7].
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Meta-analysis of skin elasticity in groups: menopausal hormone therapy and controls. HRT: hormone replacement therapy, IV: instrumental variables, Std: standard, SD: standard deviation, CI: confidence interval.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Meta-analysis of skin thickness in groups. HRT: hormone replacement therapy, IV: instrumental variables, Std: standard, SD: standard deviation, CI: confidence interval.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. Meta-analysis of collagen content in groups. HRT: hormone replacement therapy, IV: instrumental variables, Std: standard, SD: standard deviation, CI: confidence interval.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5. Meta-analysis of face wrinkles in groups. HRT: instrumental variables, IV: instrumental variables, Std: standard, SD: standard deviation, CI: confidence interval.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6. Meta-analysis of skin dryness in groups. HRT: hormone replacement therapy, IV: instrumental variables, Std: standard, SD: standard deviation, CI: confidence interval.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7. ROBINS-I tool for risk of bias assessment.
Fig. 8
Fig. 8. RoB-2 tool for risk of bias assessment.

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