Abstract
This work aimed to assess the skin-beneficial properties of Agastache rugosa Kuntze, an herbal medication used to treat different types of disorders in traditional folk medicine. The total phenolic compounds and total antiradical, nitrite scavenging, superoxide scavenging, antielastase, and antihyaluronidase activities of a hot water extract of A. rugosa Kuntze leaves (ARE) were spectrophotometrically determined. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) was fluorometrically quantitated using 2′,7′-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA). Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and filaggrin were evaluated using Western analysis. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR was used to measure filaggrin mRNA. Caspase-14 activity was determined using a fluorogenic substrate. ARE contained the total phenolic content of 38.9 mg gallic acid equivalent/g extract and exhibited 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, superoxide radical, and nitrite scavenging activities with the SC50 values of 2.9, 1.4, and 1.7 mg/mL, respectively. ARE exerted suppressive activities on nitric oxide (NO) and ROS levels elevated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in HaCaT keratinocytes. It attenuated the LPS-stimulated expression of iNOS. ARE augmented the UV-B-reduced filaggrin expression on both protein and mRNA levels and was capable of upregulating the UV-B-reduced caspase-14 activity. ARE inhibited in vitro elastase and hyaluronidase activities associated with the wrinkling process. ARE, at the concentrations used, did not interfere with the viability of HaCaT keratinocytes. These findings preliminarily imply that the leaves of A. rugosa possess desirable cosmetic potentials, such as anti-inflammatory, barrier protective, and antiwrinkle activities, which infers their skin healing potentials.
Highlights
The skin protects against the penetration of noxious agents, such as allergens, irritants, and microbes, as well as against excessive transepidermal water loss
We have focused on the barrier protective in the human epidermal keratinocyte cell line HaCaT and in vitro antiwrinkle properties of A. rugosa leaves, and that we tried to further confirm the anti-inflammatory activity of the leaves using varied experimental protocols
Ascorbic acid (AA), bovine serum albumin (BSA), Folin-Ciocalteu reagent, 2,2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), sodium nitrite, Bradford reagent, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), 2′,7′ -dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), gallic acid, NADH, nitroblue tetrazolium, phenazine methosulfate, CHAPS, dithiothreitol, N-succinyl-(L-Ala)3-p-nitroanilide, elastase, hyaluronidase, hyaluronic acid (HA), epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), apigenin, and Griess reagent were from Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Co. (St Louis, MO, USA)
Summary
The skin protects against the penetration of noxious agents, such as allergens, irritants, and microbes, as well as against excessive transepidermal water loss. BioMed Research International factors (NMFs), cornified cell envelope (CE), cornified lipid envelope, and intercellular lipid layers containing enriched ceramides, cholesterol, and free fatty acids [3]. Skin diseases such as AD and psoriasis and aged skin are characterized by the reduced levels of ceramides that are associated with dysfunctional skin barrier and dryness [4]. Involucrin acts as a scaffold to which other proteins become cross-linked and resides to the cell membrane and forms the exterior surface of the CE [6]. Expression of involucrin is attenuated in both acute lesional and nonlesional skin of AD subjects, as compared to the skin from healthy subjects [8]
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