Abstract
Oral photoprotection can be used to prevent photocarcinogenesis and photoaging. It is mainly based on the presence of antioxidant moieties in phytochemical extracts. The appearance of different botanical formulations endowed with apparently similar properties requires their side-by-side examination using an unbiased approach. The objectives of this study were to determine the antioxidant properties of several extracts of the fern Polypodium leucotomos and their ability to prevent ultraviolet (UV) damage in vitro. In vitro study with several extracts using cell-free and cellular assays was the design used. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), antioxidant assays, and cellular viability assays were the method used. Various extracts of the same plant species contain different amounts of antioxidant moieties. They bear different antioxidant and photoprotective capability at a cellular level, as determined by cellular viability assays and the appearance of DNA damage markers after UV exposure. Each botanical extract is endowed with different photoprotective properties. In these experiments, extracts from ferns’ leaves are better photoprotectors than extracts from the rhizomes, but it is necessary to assess each formulation separately. Key words: Polypodium, antioxidant, ultraviolet (UV), photoprotection
Highlights
Samples were filtered through a 0.45 μm-pore polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membrane and 0.1 mL was loaded into a liquid High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) device from Waters Alliance equipped with a Luna C18(2) column (5 μm, 100 A, 250 × 4.6 mm) from Phenomenex
Based on previous evidence gathered using some of these extracts (Garcia et al, 2006), these experiments focused on several specific antioxidant aromatic acids, including 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic, 4hydroxybenzoic, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoic acid, 3,4-dihydroxycinnamic, 4hydroxycinnamic, and 4-Hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic
The three formulations made from the leaves of P. leucotomos are richer in antioxidant aromatic acids than the extracts obtained using the rhizome
Summary
Photoprotection aims to prevent skin cancer in its various forms. The three modes are not mutually exclusive; on the contrary, they all are necessary to prevent the deleterious effects of ultraviolet (UV) overexposure. Systemic photoprotectors are the most intriguing because, unlike the other two, they bear potential to revert some of the deleterious side-effects of previous unprotected exposure events, photoaging and photo-induced carcinogenesis. This potential underlies the outburst of interest in this mode of photoprotection; it provides ample opportunity for non-sanctioned, uncharacterized products
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