Cassano Roberta, Curcio Federica, Sole Roberta, Trombino Sonia
Department of Pharmacy, Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Calabria, 87036 Cosenza, Italy.
Gels. 2023 Mar 15;9(3):226. doi: 10.3390/gels9030226.
Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation causes harmful effects on the skin, such as inflammatory states and photoaging, which depend strictly on the form, amount, and intensity of UV radiation and the type of individual exposed. Fortunately, the skin is endowed with a number of endogenous antioxidants and enzymes crucial in its response to UV radiation damage. However, the aging process and environmental stress can deprive the epidermis of its endogenous antioxidants. Therefore, natural exogenous antioxidants may be able to reduce the severity of UV-induced skin damage and aging. Several plant foods constitute a natural source of various antioxidants. These include gallic acid and phloretin, used in this work. Specifically, polymeric microspheres, useful for the delivery of phloretin, were made from gallic acid, a molecule that has a singular chemical structure with two different functional groups, carboxylic and hydroxyl, capable of providing polymerizable derivatives after esterification. Phloretin is a dihydrochalcone that possesses many biological and pharmacological properties, such as potent antioxidant activity in free radical removal, inhibition of lipid peroxidation, and antiproliferative effects. The obtained particles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Antioxidant activity, swelling behavior, phloretin loading efficiency, and transdermal release were also evaluated. The results obtained indicate that the micrometer-sized particles effectively swell, and release the phloretin encapsulated in them within 24 h, and possess antioxidant efficacy comparable to that of free phloretin solution. Therefore, such microspheres could be a viable strategy for the transdermal release of phloretin and subsequent protection from UV-induced skin damage.
暴露于紫外线（UV）辐射会对皮肤产生有害影响，如炎症状态和光老化，这严格取决于紫外线辐射的形式、数量和强度以及暴露个体的类型。幸运的是，皮肤具有多种内源性抗氧化剂和酶，它们在皮肤对紫外线辐射损伤的反应中至关重要。然而，衰老过程和环境压力会使表皮失去其内源性抗氧化剂。因此，天然外源性抗氧化剂可能能够减轻紫外线诱导的皮肤损伤和衰老的严重程度。几种植物性食物构成了各种抗氧化剂的天然来源。这些包括本研究中使用的没食子酸和根皮素。具体而言，用于递送根皮素的聚合物微球由没食子酸制成，没食子酸是一种具有独特化学结构的分子，带有羧基和羟基这两种不同的官能团，酯化后能够提供可聚合衍生物。根皮素是一种二氢查耳酮，具有许多生物学和药理学特性，如在清除自由基方面具有强大的抗氧化活性、抑制脂质过氧化以及抗增殖作用。通过傅里叶变换红外光谱对所得颗粒进行了表征。还评估了抗氧化活性、溶胀行为、根皮素负载效率和透皮释放。所得结果表明，微米级颗粒能有效溶胀，并在24小时内释放包封在其中的根皮素，且具有与游离根皮素溶液相当的抗氧化功效。因此，此类微球可能是根皮素透皮释放以及随后防止紫外线诱导的皮肤损伤的可行策略。
