Abstract

Recent interest into the mechanisms of dermal healing following injury by photo damage or chronologic aging denotes the need of fast reliable benchmark-assays of skin repair to screen the many novel compounds currently available. Considerable attention has been given to botanical extracts and their antioxidant properties. Herein we report on two members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae) as potential skin repair agents. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) and turmeric (Curcuma longa) have a long history of use in folk medicine with known medicinal properties (anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-tumor, and anti-bacterial). Human dermal fibroblasts were treated with either a CO2 extract of ginger or curcumin and culture supernatants (72 hr) assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for tropoelastin and procollagen type 1 synthesis. Both ginger and curcumin significantly increased tropoelastin (p<0.05 & p<0.05, respectively) and procollagen type 1 (p<0.05 & p<0.05, respectively) synthesis in vitro. These results suggest that members of the family Zingiberaceae may share a common constituent that is responsible for increased tropoelastin and procollagen type 1 synthesis and thus may be potentially valuable reagents for use in human skin repair. Work supported by NIH RO1 HL07097.

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