Anti-ageing products are of a great importance in cosmetic fields. However, even 
if numerous strategies have been proposed to fight against skin ageing or to 
minimize its aesthetic impact since the beginning of the 'scientific 
cosmetology' era, the products basing their efficacy on the observation of 
pathological situations are rare. The most obvious pathology linked to the 
ageing of skin (notably) consists in the Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome 
(HGPS), a rare disorder characterized by accelerated ageing and early death. In 
this disease the lamin A, a protein participating (with others lamins) in the 
formation of the nuclear lamina and implicated in nuclear stability, chromatin 
structure and gene expression, is present in a truncated version called 
progerin. In this study, we have examined the lactate and the progerin 
production of human normal cutaneous cells issued from subjects of different 
ages. Using a sensitive and specific progerin ELISA assay developed in house, we 
so provide the first quantitative demonstration of an increased progerin 
expression and lactate production in skin during ageing. Moreover, we have also 
demonstrated that in the selected experimental conditions, it was possible to 
down-regulate the progerin production of aged cells by using an algae extract. 
As this extract, an Alaria esculenta extract, could be used in cosmetic 
formulations, we suggest that a better understanding of the skin pathologies 
could be a useful tool in developing efficient active compounds, attractive for 
but not limited to cosmetic purposes.