27027 Mitigation of damage induced by environmental pollution by feverfew extract

Abstract

Consumers are constantly looking for more from their sun care products, thus a sun protection platform was created to provide invisible protection and expand the definition of protection beyond sun to total defense from the environment. One interacts with a plethora of different environmental aggressors daily, namely: 1) UV radiation, 2) atmospheric pollutants, 3) cigarette combustion products, 4) indoor heating and cooling (decrease humidity and can lead to drier skin), and 5) environmental ozone (a powerful oxidant). The products in this sun protection platform were created with an antioxidant complex comprised of feverfew extract and vitamin E to help protect skin from these environmental aggressors. Testing was performed by quantifying the barrier function of the skin through transepithelial electric resistance (TEER) testing in a human epidermal skin-equivalent model. The feverfew extract in this platform is a patented parthenolide-free extract (PFE), which enables feverfew to be used in topical skincare without risk of skin sensitization. The external aggressors of heat, cold, ozone, cigarette smoke, and UV radiation were shown to disrupt the barrier function of the skin equivalents. Skin equivalents treated with feverfew extract were shown to have significantly better barrier function (P < .01) and inhibition of IL-1α than untreated skin equivalents (P < .05). By mitigating these markers of inflammation and mitigating disruption of the skin barrier function, feverfew was shown to help reinforce the natural defenses of the skin against the cumulative damage caused by environmental aggressors.