College of Pharmacy, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea.
RNS Inc., Daejeon 34014, Korea.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Jul 28;22(15):8105. doi: 10.3390/ijms22158105.
The root of (Willd.) is a widely used herbal medicine worldwide, whereas the stem of the plant is discarded or used as feed for livestock. To reuse and exploit the stem of as a resource, we investigated its potential as a skin-whitening agent. We found that the developed, enriched stem (PLS) extract significantly inhibited melanin production in the 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine-induced B16/F10 cells at a concentration of 50 μg/mL. To further confirm the mechanism of the antimelanogenic effect of the enriched PLS extracts, we examined the mRNA expression of tyrosinase, which was suppressed by the extracts. To standardize and implement effective quality control of the enriched PLS extracts, its major chemical constituents were identified by high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry. In total, 12 constituents were identified. In silico analysis showed that the main constituents, puerarin and daidzin, had excellent binding affinities for human tyrosinase. Collectively, our results suggest that the PLS extracts could be used as anti-pigmentation agents.
（Willd.）的根是一种在全球范围内广泛使用的草药，而植物的茎则被丢弃或用作牲畜饲料。为了重新利用和开发作为一种资源，我们研究了它作为一种皮肤增白剂的潜力。我们发现，经过开发和富集的根（PLS）提取物在 50μg/ml 的浓度下显著抑制了 3-异丁基-1-甲基黄嘌呤诱导的 B16/F10 细胞中的黑色素生成。为了进一步证实富集 PLS 提取物的抗黑色素生成作用的机制，我们检查了提取物抑制的酪氨酸酶的 mRNA 表达。为了对富集 PLS 提取物进行标准化和实施有效的质量控制，我们采用高效液相色谱-光电二极管阵列-电喷雾电离-质谱联用技术对其主要化学成分进行了鉴定。总共鉴定出 12 种成分。计算机分析表明，主要成分葛根素和大豆苷元与人酪氨酸酶具有极好的结合亲和力。总之，我们的结果表明，PLS 提取物可用作皮肤增白剂。
