Health and Medical Research Institute: "Insufficient Evidence for the Effectiveness of 'Beauty Injections' like Contour and Salmon Injections"

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Various injections such as Baekokju (Glutathione injection), Salmon injection, Contour injection, Vitamin injection, and Botox, which are used for beauty or health promotion purposes, were found to have no proven efficacy except for Botox. On the other hand, the risk of side effects such as anaphylaxis was found to be significant.

The Korea Institute of Health and Medical Affairs announced on the 23rd the results of a safety and efficacy study on injections used for beauty and health promotion purposes, including Contour injection, Salmon injection, and Botox.

Previously, in 2016, the institute conducted a preliminary study on non-reimbursed beauty injections (such as Cinderella injection, Baekokju, Garlic injection, Licorice injection, Placenta injection) for beauty and health promotion purposes, finding insufficient evidence to prove efficacy and thus unable to determine effectiveness. Some injections were also found to have side effects including hypersensitivity shock, rash, and urticaria.

This study added four injections?Vitamin injection, Salmon injection, Contour injection, and Botox?to the five injections included in the 2016 study to verify clinical safety and efficacy. The total nine injections studied were ▲ Thioctic acid (Cinderella injection) ▲ Glutathione (Baekokju) ▲ Pyridoxine disulfide (Garlic injection) ▲ Glycyrrhizin (Licorice injection) ▲ Placenta extract/hydrolyzed placenta (Placenta injection) ▲ Ascorbic acid (Vitamin injection) ▲ Polideoxyribonucleotide sodium (Salmon injection) ▲ Hyaluronidase (Contour injection) ▲ Clostridium botulinum toxin type A (Botox). A rapid systematic literature review was conducted based on domestic and international literature, and domestic side effect cases were analyzed using the 'Pharmaceutical Adverse Event Raw Data (2010-2019)' and 'Consumer Hazard Surveillance System Hazard Information Data (2010-2020)'.

The study results showed that except for Botox, which is already approved for cosmetic purposes, there is a lack of evidence for clinical efficacy, while numerous serious adverse events such as anaphylactic shock have been reported, indicating the need for caution.

In the case of Cinderella injection, one study on the weight loss effect of the thioctic acid component was found. Compared to the saline control group, the treatment group showed significant improvement in lipid levels such as blood cholesterol in obese patients, but no difference in body mass index (BMI) related to weight was confirmed. Regarding safety, mild side effects such as itching, rash, dizziness, and headache were reported, as well as serious adverse events like anaphylactic shock.

For Baekokju, one study on the skin tone improvement effect of glutathione was found, which showed no significant difference in skin tone changes between the control and test groups. However, side effects such as fever, nausea, urticaria, vomiting, and serious adverse events including respiratory distress and anaphylactic shock were reported.

No efficacy-confirming literature was found for Garlic injection, Licorice injection, and Placenta injection. However, in terms of safety, Garlic injection was associated with side effects such as nausea, rash, vomiting, and serious adverse events including anaphylactic shock and seizures. For Placenta injection, no side effects related to placenta extract were reported in the pharmaceutical adverse event raw data, but the consumer hazard surveillance system received reports of urticaria, systemic rash, swelling, and abdominal pain. Licorice injection includes many products containing different ingredients classified under the same ATC code, so the safety of glycyrrhizin alone could not be confirmed.

Regarding Vitamin injection, one study on the fatigue improvement effect of ascorbic acid showed a short-term (1 day) fatigue improvement effect in the ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) treatment group compared to the control group, but no long-term or sustained effect was confirmed. Safety-wise, only swelling cases were reported in the consumer hazard surveillance system.

No efficacy-confirming literature was found for Salmon injection and Contour injection. No side effects were reported for Salmon injection, and for Contour injection, aside from known side effects such as swelling and skin discoloration reported in the pharmaceutical adverse event raw data, no serious adverse events were reported. However, the consumer hazard surveillance system received the highest number of side effect reports excluding Botox, including skin dimpling, inflammation, and bleeding.

Botox was the only one among the nine injections with confirmed cosmetic effects. Apart from the approved indications for cosmetic use such as glabellar lines, crow’s feet, and forehead wrinkles, a systematic literature review including 10 studies on the efficacy of Botox in the mid-lower face and neck areas showed improvement in wrinkles and muscle volume reduction.

However, both the pharmaceutical adverse event raw data and the consumer hazard surveillance system reported the highest number of side effect cases among the nine injection components. Serious adverse events requiring hospitalization or extended hospital stays, such as respiratory distress, dysphagia (swallowing difficulty), ptosis, and neuropathy, were continuously reported.

Lee Min, head of the policy research team at the Korea Institute of Health and Medical Affairs and the lead researcher of this study, explained, “Currently, there is insufficient evidence to confirm efficacy due to the limited amount of literature, but some patients in clinical settings do feel effects, so the presence or absence of efficacy cannot be definitively stated.” He added, “Since serious adverse events and side effects continue to be reported, caution is necessary when using these injections. Especially, mixing various intravenous nutrition injection components or the lack of standardized dosages raises concerns about side effects, so further review of related potential safety issues is needed.”

The full research report is scheduled to be released on the institute’s website next month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.