Patent ID: 8173144

Claim:
A regime or regimen for regulating epidermal differentiation, and/or inhibiting the reduction in the amount of free amino acids in the stratum corneum related to age, and/or reducing the age-related accumulation of abnormal proteins, the regime or regimen comprising: administering to an individual in need of such treatment, a cosmetic/pharmaceutical composition which comprises a thus effective amount of at least one hydroxylated urea compound having the following formula (I): in which: the radicals R1, R2, R3 and R4, which may be identical or different, are each a hydrogen atom, a C 1 -C 4 alkyl radical or a C 2 -C 6 hydroxyalkyl radical which can contain from 1 to 5 hydroxyl groups, wherein at least one of the R1 to R4 radicals represents a hydroxyalkyl radical, or salt, solvate or isomer thereof, formulated into a physiologically acceptable medium therefor; and regulating epidermal differentiation, and/or inhibiting the reduction in the amount of free amino acids in the stratum corneum related to age, and/or reducing the age-related accumulation of abnormal proteins; and said effective amount of the compound of formula (I) is an amount equivalent to that observed in an in vitro measurement of protease activity for the same compound at concentrations of from 1M to 4M.