Malaspina Paola, Catellani Erica, Burlando Bruno, Brignole Daniele, Cornara Laura, Bazzicalupo Miriam, Candiani Simona, Obino Valentina, De Feo Vincenzo, Caputo Lucia, Giordani Paolo
Department of Pharmacy, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
Biophysics Institute, National Research Council (CNR), Genoa, Italy.
PeerJ. 2020 May 15;8:e9150. doi: 10.7717/peerj.9150. eCollection 2020.
Melanin is the main pigment of human skin, playing the primary role of protection from ultraviolet radiation. Alteration of the melanin production may lead to hyperpigmentation diseases, with both aesthetic and health consequences. Thus, suppressors of melanogenesis are considered useful tools for medical and cosmetic treatments. A great interest is focused on natural sources, aimed at finding safe and quantitatively available depigmenting substances. Lichens are thought to be possible sources of this kind of compounds, as the occurrence of many phenolic molecules suggests possible effects on phenolase enzymes involved in melanin synthesis, like tyrosinase. In this work, we used four lichen species, Ach., Hale, (L.) Hue, and (Hudson) M. Choisy, to obtain extracts in solvents of increasing polarity, viz. chloroform, chloroform-methanol, methanol, and water. Cell-free, tyrosinase inhibition experiments showed highest inhibition for methanol extract, followed by chloroform-methanol one. Comparable results for depigmenting activities were observed by means of in vitro and in vivo systems, such as MeWo melanoma cells and zebrafish larvae. Our study provides first evidence of depigmenting effects of lichen extracts, from tyrosinase inhibition to cell and in vivo models, suggesting that and extracts deserve to be further studied for developing skin-whitening products.
黑色素是人类皮肤的主要色素，起着抵御紫外线辐射的主要作用。黑色素生成的改变可能导致色素沉着过度疾病，对美观和健康都会产生影响。因此，黑色素生成抑制剂被认为是医学和美容治疗的有用工具。人们对天然来源非常感兴趣，旨在寻找安全且数量充足的美白物质。地衣被认为可能是这类化合物的来源，因为许多酚类分子的存在表明它们可能对参与黑色素合成的酚酶（如酪氨酸酶）产生影响。在这项工作中，我们使用了四种地衣物种，即Ach.、Hale、(L.) Hue和(Hudson) M. Choisy，以在极性递增的溶剂中获得提取物，即氯仿、氯仿 - 甲醇、甲醇和水。无细胞酪氨酸酶抑制实验表明，甲醇提取物的抑制作用最强，其次是氯仿 - 甲醇提取物。通过体外和体内系统，如MeWo黑色素瘤细胞和斑马鱼幼虫，观察到了类似的美白活性结果。我们的研究首次证明了地衣提取物的美白效果，从酪氨酸酶抑制到细胞和体内模型，表明[此处地衣物种名称缺失]提取物值得进一步研究以开发美白产品。
