Ingredient intelligence
Hyaluronic acid
Humectant · Sodium Hyaluronate · (C14H21NO11)n
is a large of the . strongly affects how it behaves, and topical molecules are much larger than most skin-penetrating compounds.
Any underlined term can be tapped for an everyday-English translation.
Molecular identity
- Formula
- (C14H21NO11)n
- Molecular weight
- Data unavailable
- PubChem CID
- 24759
- ChEBI
- CHEBI:16336
Biological targets
CD44 antigen
high confidencetargets · receptor
UniProt P16070Hyaluronan synthase 2 (HAS2)
medium confidenceassociated with · enzyme
UniProt Q92819Hyaluronidase 1 (HYAL1)
medium confidencetargets · enzyme
UniProt Q12794
How could this ingredient interact with biology?
Biological network
Ingredient → molecule → target → gene/protein → pathway → process → studied outcome. Relationship strength is drawn from the curated confidence tier; nothing is added to make the chain look complete.
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Text alternative for this network
- Hyaluronic acid is molecule Hyaluronan disaccharide repeat — high confidence
- Hyaluronan disaccharide repeat targets CD44 antigen — high confidence
- Hyaluronan disaccharide repeat associated with Hyaluronan synthase 2 (HAS2) — medium confidence
- Hyaluronan disaccharide repeat targets Hyaluronidase 1 (HYAL1) — medium confidence
- CD44 antigen encoded by CD44 — high confidence
- Hyaluronan synthase 2 (HAS2) encoded by HAS2 — medium confidence
- Hyaluronidase 1 (HYAL1) encoded by HYAL1 — medium confidence
- CD44 participates in Hyaluronan metabolism — high confidence
- HAS2 participates in Hyaluronan metabolism — medium confidence
- HYAL1 participates in Hyaluronan metabolism — medium confidence
- CD44 participates in Extracellular matrix organisation — medium confidence
- HAS2 participates in Extracellular matrix organisation — medium confidence
- HYAL1 participates in Extracellular matrix organisation — medium confidence
- Hyaluronan metabolism associated with Water retention in extracellular matrix — high confidence
- Extracellular matrix organisation associated with Water retention in extracellular matrix — medium confidence
- Hyaluronan metabolism associated with Stratum corneum hydration — medium confidence
- Extracellular matrix organisation associated with Stratum corneum hydration — medium confidence
- Water retention in extracellular matrix studied in Studied for surface hydration and short-term skin smoothness — medium confidence
- Stratum corneum hydration studied in Studied for surface hydration and short-term skin smoothness — medium confidence
Biological pathways
Hyaluronan metabolism
high confidenceSynthesis and degradation of hyaluronan in the .
Reactome R-HSA-2142845
Extracellular matrix organisation
medium confidenceHyaluronan contributes to matrix hydration and structure.
Reactome R-HSA-1474244
Evidence engine
Moderate
Some human evidence exists, but replication or sample sizes are limited.
Skinceptor Evidence Index
61
experimental · of 100
This index is a research-navigation aid describing how much evidence exists and how it was produced. It is not a medical safety score, an efficacy guarantee, or a clinical recommendation.
Study composition
- Human1
- Randomised controlled trial1
- Review1
- Total studies
- 3
- Human studies
- 2
- Largest sample
- 76
- Range
- 2011–2014
Index breakdown
- Study design quality68% × 28%
Mean design weight across curated studies (meta-analysis 1.0, RCT 0.9, other human 0.7, review 0.45, animal 0.35, in-vitro 0.25).
- Human evidence share67% × 22%
Proportion of curated evidence measured in people rather than cells or animals.
- Evidence volume63% × 14%
Log-scaled count of curated studies, so volume alone cannot dominate the score.
- Largest sample size63% × 12%
Log-scaled largest reported sample size across curated human studies.
- Replication67% × 12%
Independent human studies, capped at three; one study is never treated as replicated.
- Recency40% × 7%
Linear decay over a twenty-year window from the most recent curated publication.
- Source traceability0% × 5%
Share of curated studies with a verified PMID or DOI in this dataset.
Insufficient comparable evidence for quantitative synthesis.
Research timeline
How the evidence accumulated
2011
Topical hyaluronic acid formulations and skin hydration: a controlled study
Randomised controlled trialn = 76 · Journal of Drugs in Dermatology
2014
Hyaluronan in skin: molecular weight dependence of biological effects
Reviewsample size unavailable · Journal of Biological Chemistry (review)
2014
Polyglutamic acid film formation and short-term skin hydration
Humann = 22 · International Journal of Cosmetic Science
Ingredient fingerprint
13 nodes · 19 relationships · seed "hyaluronic-acid"
The fingerprint is a deterministic visual signature: ridge amplitude comes from the number of entities in each tier, node placement from identifier hashes, and opacity from confidence. Two ingredients can never produce the same figure unless their networks are identical.
Open in Biology as Art →Research
3 curated studies
Hyaluronan in skin: molecular weight dependence of biological effects
Summarises how hyaluronan fragment size determines CD44 signalling outcomes, with high and low molecular weight forms behaving differently.
Limitations — Mechanistic review; largely non-topical models.
Polyglutamic acid film formation and short-term skin hydration
Reported increased corneometry readings shortly after application, attributed to a hygroscopic surface film.
Limitations — Short measurement window, no long-term barrier endpoints; identifier not verified during curation.
Topical hyaluronic acid formulations and skin hydration: a controlled study
Reported increased corneometry-measured hydration and reduced wrinkle depth versus baseline over 8 weeks.
Limitations — Instrumental surrogate endpoints; identifier not verified during curation.
Community evidence
Submitted by readers
Reader submissions appear here only after review. They are not part of the curated dataset and do not affect the Skinceptor Evidence Index.
No approved community submissions yet.
Sources
- PubChem 24759Verified 2026-09-14
- Reactome R-HSA-2142845Verified 2026-09-14
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