SNAP-8 dosage and evidence

What is SNAP-8?

How does SNAP-8 work?

It copies part of SNAP-25. That slightly cuts the nerve signal that makes facial muscles squeeze.

What have studies in people found about SNAP-8?

No study has tested SNAP-8 on its own in people. Two studies include it as one of several actives in a patch of tiny needles that dissolve into the skin. In both, the authors work for the companies that make the patch. No trial of it is listed on the US trials registry under any of its names.

• Needle patch under the eyes, 2024, 24 healthy people: for 28 days, each wore a hyaluronic acid patch holding SNAP-8 and other actives under one eye, and a plain hyaluronic acid patch under the other. The active side had better wrinkle scores, held water better and was more elastic, with no side effects. Four of the five authors work for Raphas, which makes the patch. The plain patch lacked the whole active mix, not just SNAP-8, so the result cannot be put down to SNAP-8.
• Needle patch, one clinic, 2020: a 12-week test of a hyaluronic acid patch with SNAP-8 among other peptides found 25.8 percent fewer fine lines. The authors come from Imperial Bioscience, Dermatest and Raphas, which makes the patch. None of it can be put down to SNAP-8 alone.
• What is missing: no published study has tested the peptide by itself, in any product, in anyone. Nobody has measured whether it soaks into human skin, and no trial is registered.

What this does not tell you: Neither study can say anything about this peptide, because in neither was it the only thing that differed between the treated side and the other side. There is no study of it alone to set a dose, a strength, a time frame or a safety record. There is also no study comparing SNAP-8 with Argireline, even though SNAP-8 is sold as the better, longer version of it. So the main sales claim for this ingredient has never been tested against the thing it claims to beat.

The state of the research

The evidence, in charts

The studies we cite

• Study in people2020
  Efficacy of bioactive peptides loaded on hyaluronic acid microneedle patches: a monocentric clinical study

  A patch containing this peptide reduced fine lines, but the peptide cannot take the credit. People used it for twelve weeks and finished with about a quarter fewer fine lines. The patch carried several active ingredients at once, along with hyaluronic acid and the tiny needles that deliver it. Nothing in the design separates one ingredient from another. There is no trial of this peptide on its own in a patch like this.

  12-week study of a multi-ingredient patch containing acetyl octapeptide-3 reported 25.8% fewer fine lines; not attributable to SNAP-8 alone.

  PMID 31134751 Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology
• Study in people2024
  Clinical safety and efficacy evaluation of a dissolving microneedle patch having dual anti-wrinkle effects with safe and long-term activities

  One eye got the active patch and the other got a plain one, which is a fair way to test a face. Twenty four healthy people wore them for four weeks. The treated side showed better wrinkle improvement, held water in the skin better and was more elastic, with no side effects reported. As in the earlier patch study, this peptide was one of several active ingredients. The result belongs to the patch and not to the peptide.

  24 healthy subjects wore a hyaluronic acid microneedle patch containing acetyl octapeptide-3 on one eye and a hyaluronic-acid-only placebo patch on the other for 28 days. The active side showed better eye-wrinkle improvement, lower transepidermal water loss and improved elasticity with no adverse effects. As in the 2020 patch study, acetyl octapeptide-3 was one of several actives, so the result is not attributable to SNAP-8 alone.

  PMID 39082657 Annals of Dermatology