ABSTRACT
Skin photoaging is caused by long-term exposure to sunlight. It is a kind of exogenous aging and one of the important causes of skin aging. The main symptoms include dry skin, roughness, sagging, wrinkles and localized pigmentation. There are diverse and complex mechanisms for causing skin photoaging, mainly involving oxidative stress, apoptosis, the role of matrix metalloproteinases, inflammatory reactions. The prevention and treatment methods of skin photoaging mainly include sunscreens, antioxidants and anti-inflammatory preparations. In recent years, the prevention and improvement of skin photoaging have become hotspots in the world. Therefore, the development of drugs with a defined anti-photoaging effect and clear anti-photoaging mechanism is urgent. Clinically, although retinoic acid and other drugs can alleviate skin photoaging, long-term use can cause side effects on central nervous system, and most of them have a strong irritation and damage to the skin. Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) has the advantages of natural material, stable action, less toxic and side effects; furthermore, TCM and its compound have a long history in curative application, with a unique effect. This paper explores the anti-skin photoaging mechanism of TCM in recent years, its modern application and study progress, in order to provide some reference for exploring the mechanism and prevention of skin photoaging.