Abstract
Active ingredients derived from natural sources are widely utilized in many industries. Cosmetic active ingredients are largely derived from various plants. In this study, we examined whether a mixture of plant extracts obtained from agrimonia, houttuynia, licorice, peony, and phellodendron (hereafter AHLPP), which are well-known for their effects on skin, could affect skin barrier function, inflammation, and aging in human skin cells. We also determined whether AHLPP extracts sterilized using γ-irradiation (to avoid preservatives) retained their skin cell regulating activity. The AHLPP mixture could downregulate representative pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL 1-β and IL 7. Procollagen peptide synthesis was also increased by AHLPP treatment along with mRNA upregulation of barrier proteins such as filaggrin and desmoplakin. The AHLPP mixture showed an anti-aging effect by significantly upregulating telomerase activity in human keratinocytes. We further observed TERT upregulation and CDKN1B downregulation, implying a weakening of pro-aging signal transduction. Co-cultivation of a hydrogel polymer containing the AHLPP mixture with human skin cells showed an alteration in skin-significant genes such as FLG, which encodes filaggrin. Thus, the AHLPP mixture with or without γ-irradiation can be utilized for skin protection as it alters the expression of some significant genes in human skin cells.
Highlights
Active ingredients derived from natural sources are widely utilized in many industries
Considering these points, we prepared a mixture of plant extracts from Agrimonia, Houttuynia, Licorice, Paeonia, and Phellodendron and named it AHLPP; we examined whether the mixture had a significant effect on the gene expression and cytokine profile of human epidermal keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts
65 g of Phellodendron amurense Rupr, 26 g of Paeonia albiflora Pallas, 14 g of Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb var. japonica, 5 g of Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch, and 3.5 g of Houttuynia cordata Thunb extracts were incubated with 1 L of water for 48 h, followed by lyophilization
Summary
Active ingredients derived from natural sources are widely utilized in many industries. We examined whether a mixture of plant extracts obtained from agrimonia, houttuynia, licorice, peony, and phellodendron (hereafter AHLPP), which are well-known for their effects on skin, could affect skin barrier function, inflammation, and aging in human skin cells. The AHLPP mixture showed an anti-aging effect by significantly upregulating telomerase activity in human keratinocytes. Co-cultivation of a hydrogel polymer containing the AHLPP mixture with human skin cells showed an alteration in skin-significant genes such as FLG, which encodes filaggrin. We examined the skin-beneficial effects of a mixture of the extracts obtained from five herbal plants renowned for their skin benefits in the context of skin barrier function, anti-inflammation, and anti-aging. The combined effect of these five plant extracts on human skin cells is not known. We considered that the ion-crosslinked hydrogel polymer may be suitable to deliver plant active extracts for skin applications
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