In the land of where some people will do nearly anything for money, a company is selling “human platelet extract” as a topical cosmetic product for daily use on normal skin. Can you say, “Gee, let’s clot our skin’s blood supply, induce inflammation, and induce cancer at the same time?” Yes, extended use of a platelet extract product is likely carcinogenic (Carr et al, 2014; Sabrkhany et al, 2021).  To be clear, platelet lysate (extract) triggers an inflammatory response in stem cells in the skin and induces the secretion of factors maintaining immune cells (macrophages) in a proinflammatory state thus enhancing inflammation (Ulivi et al, 2014), and long term inflammation is dangerous.

First, platelet extract does not contain exosomes as some are claiming. The company Plated uses the term “Renewosome”” to fool people. It’s marketing hype that the hysterical mass media has been repeating. They even put a trademark after this silly name. Lol. Platelet-derived exosomes (PLT-Exos) are the main subtype of extracellular vesicles secreted by platelets, which carry proteins, nucleotides, lipids, and other substances to acceptor cells, playing an important role in intercellular communication.” Notice the term “secreted.” Exosomes are actively secreted from living platelets, and an extraction process of platelets will not yield any exosomes. None. I introduced the concept of and actual products containing exosomes to skin care over a decade ago. Many people criticized me at the time, and never bothered to read my peer-reviewed work on the subject, including my scientific book on the subject. But over a decade later following my introduction of exosomes to skin care, the word is out and people are making false claims to have exosomes in their products. Again, exosomes must be released (secreted) and cannot be collected through cellular extraction processes.

BTW, if you want to buy some human platelet extract (lysate is the scientific term for extract), here’s the source:

You can also purchase the platelet extract without fibrinogen. The company has removed the fibrinogen to reduce clotting because fibrinogen is one of the clotting factors.

So, what are platelets? Platelets are anucleated red blood cells that circulate in blood. They are small because they’re anucleated and can therefore squeeze into small places. Platelets are called into action when a wound occurs and blood is spewing. Their job is to close the wound fast by clotting to stop blood leakage, and by inducing high rates of cellular proliferation and inducing an inflammatory response to fight infection. Thus, quoting from Scherlinger et al (2023) in a Nature review article, “platelets produce soluble factors and directly interact with immune cells, thereby promoting an inflammatory phenotype. Furthermore, platelets participate in tissue injury and promote abnormal tissue healing, leading to fibrosis.” Inflammation, fibrosis, abnormal tissue healing with an abnormal matrix, and proliferation are hallmarks of cancer. Tumors are wounds that don’t heal, and applying platelet extract on your face mimics a wound that doesn’t heal. Platelets don’t live long in humans, about 7-10 days, nor would you want them to. They’ve evolved to flux into an area rapidly, secrete all of their inflammatory, clotting, and proliferative factors, close the wound, and then die before before they cause too much damage. If the platelets didn’t die, but instead stayed around for a long time secreting their inflammatory, clotting, and proliferative factors, it would be similar to applying platelet extract to your skin on daily basis. Chronic inflammation, clotting and fibrosis with tumorigenesis would result.

If we consider platelet rich plasma (PRP), a less concentrated form of platelet extract, an inflammatory response in fibroblasts is induced that leads to the formation of ROS (reactive oxygen species) and activation of oxidative stress pathways. It does not promote regeneration. Recent studies have found, “Treatment with PRP increased reticular dermis thickness with a fibrotic aspect. In the long term, the presence of inflammation and microangiopathy caused by PRP injection could lead to trophic alteration of the skin and the precocious aging process.” In other words, platelets cause fibrosis and advanced aging of the skin. Why someone would want to use platelet extract on their skin is beyond me.

According to epidemiologists, “A growing body of laboratory research has shown the direct involvement of platelets with cancer.: Cancer follows a high platelet count. Signaling by platelet-derived growth factors (PDGFs) and their receptors (PDGFRs) is commonly observed in epithelial cancers, where it triggers stromal recruitment and may be involved in epithelial–mesenchymal transition, thereby affecting tumor growth, angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis. In other words, the extract of platelets will be high in PDGF and when applied daily will enhance the probability of cancer.

Recent studies have found that over-active PDGF signaling is implicated in several types of human malignancies, in one way by promoting proliferation, survival and invasion of tumour cells directly, and in another way by changing the tumor stroma (matrix) in a manner that promotes tumorigenesis. If we look at a product called Regranex, which is a topical product containing 0.01% PDGF, the label includes a warning, “Malignancies distant from the site of application have occurred in REGRANEX users in a clinical study and in postmarketing use.” Thus, using a platelet extract, loaded with PDGF, on a daily basis may be asking for trouble, specifically tumorigenesis.

Let’s look at the ingredients of the platelet extract product used in a “clinical study” of the platelet extract product (from their website):

“purified water, glycerin, pentylene glycol, trideceth-9, panthenol, human platelet extract™, PEG-5 isononanoate, polyacrylate crosspolymer-6, hyaluronic acid, caprylyl glycol, 1,2-hexanediol, hydrolyzed gelatin, arginine, silanetriol, saccharide isomerate, menthyl lactate, carnosine, citric acid, sodium citrate.”

Question – If the “human platelet extract” is so good, why do they need to include all of those other actives?

Answer- because the platelet extract doesn’t work well on its own. At NeoGenesis, we don’t have to add anything to our S2RM adult stem cell-based technology containing exosomes because it really works.

Let’s look at a study published by the company selling platelet extract. The study is:

This study is for short term results in treated skin, not long term results in normal skin. The study suffers from a poor experimental design, conflicts of interest, and the results are underwhelming,

First, the study was not conducted at Mayo Clinic as some people have said in social media. Rather the study was performed for payment from the company to a plastic surgeon named Steve Dyan, and the authors included those employed by the company. So Steve Dyan put his name on the paper for money – this is common, and is called ghostwriting. This is where a physician puts their name on a paper when others have done the work. He was paid to put his name on this published paper. This is a conflict of interest, and is one of the reasons why most medical research and clinical trials cannot be believed.

Look at the study design, and find the problem with the design:

Treatment Group – Before Procedure:   “A 7-day pre-procedure facial skincare regimen for subjects randomized to the HPE treatment group included Cetaphil cleanser (or equivalent) twice daily morning and evening, with application of HPE once daily, and EltaMD (Colgate-Palmolive, New York, NY) UV Daily Broad-Spectrum SPF 40 (or equivalent) in the morning, with reapplication throughout the day as needed.”
Treatment Group – Post-Procedure: 

 “Post-procedure skincare (until the skin was fully healed at 7–10 days) in the treatment group included application of HPE three times daily (morning, mid-day, and before bedtime) followed by Vanicream (PSI, Rochester, MN) Moisturizing Ointment as needed for dryness, applied 15 min after HPE CALM. Post-healing when were they [sic] determined “healed” skincare in the HPE treatment group included Cetaphil (Galderma, Fort Worth, TX) cleanser twice daily, application of HPE three times daily, sunblock, and Vanicream.” 

Control Group: “Post-procedure skincare in the control group (until the skin was fully healed) included application of silicone gel twice daily and application of Vanicream Moisturizing Ointment as needed for dryness. After complete healing, the control group used Cetaphil cleanser twice daily and application of sunblock.”

Do you see the problems?

A proper study design will make the control and experimental groups the same except for the one variable, which is the test product.

Did the study do this?

No, the treatment group received extra care in the form of 7-day pre-procedure care.

Are the results convincing?

No, look at the pictures and the data – the improvement is minimal if at all.

Why didn’t the study use an active comparator?
Basically this is a study of platelet extract versus doing nothing. A good study would have compared the platelet extract to something that is known to improve post-procedure healing, something like, say, NeoGenesis Recovery. The company decided to compare their product to doing nothing, and even when compared to doing nothing, the results are poor.

I could have formulated a product using platelet extract years ago, but decided not to because it is not good for the skin (inflammation and fibrosis) and is dangerous (tumorigenesis). So, if you want clotted blood vessels in your skin, tumorigenesis, fibrosis, and inflammation, go ahead and do as some company wants you to do, apply platelet extract to your face daily. Halloween is coming in a couple of months, and if you start now, you won’t need a costume.