Open Access

Nadja Nicole Zöller, Eva Maria Valesky, Matthias Hofmann, Jürgen Bereiter-Hahn, August Bernd, Roland Kaufmann, Markus Meissner, Stefan Kippenberger

• Background: The treatment of different skin conditions with spa waters is a long tradition dating back to at least late Hellenism. Interestingly, independent scientific examinations studying the effect of spa waters are scarce. Objective: In the present in vitro study, we compared the effect of culture media supplemented with (a) thermal spa waters (La Roche-Posay, Avène) and (b) two natural mineral drinking waters (Heppinger, Adelholzener) on physiological parameters in HaCaT keratinocytes. Methods: The different medium preparations were investigated with regard to cell proliferation and cell damage. Moreover, the impact on inflammation parameters with and without ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation was examined. Results: Two popular thermal spring waters were found to suppress cell proliferation and cell damage. Moreover, these waters reversed the induction of interleukin-6, as measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and promoter transactivation, and the formation of reactive oxygen species after UVB stimulation. Of note, the two natural mineral waters, which are distributed as drinking waters, had some effect on the above-mentioned parameters but to a lesser extent. Conclusion: In summary, our results show that spa waters, and particularly those derived from thermal springs, reduce parameters associated with inflammation. It seems likely that trace elements such as selenium and zinc are critical for the observed effects.