The Malassezia species are commensal to the skin microbiome and implicated in skin and scalp diseases, including tinea versicolor and seborrheic dermatitis. In cases of tinea versicolor, Malassezia overgrowth often results in skin pigmentation changes (including both hypo- and hyper-pigmentation). The purpose of this study was to link the benign pigmentation change to malassezin, an indole metabolite secreted by Malassezia furfur, and demonstrate the safety and ability of malassezin to decrease melanin in in-vitro models. Malassezin, was chemically synthesized and tested negative in the Computational Genotoxicity Assessment (Leadscope, Columbus, OH) and confirmed by Mini-Ames Test in Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli (Pharmaron, Beijing, PRC). Phototoxicity assessment using an in vitro 3D skin tissue (EpidermTM, MatTek Corpotation) was negative. Studies of malassezin in Melanoderm models (Institute for In Vitro Sciences) demonstrated melanin reduction and compared favorably to Kojic Acid. Ex vivo studies (Laboratoire BIO-EC, Longjumeau, France) using differential gene expression (Affymetrix Human Clariom S chip, ThermoFisher Scientific, Waltham, MA; Genemarkers, LLC, Kalamazoo, MI) did not show changes expected from typical pigmentation modifying mechanisms. In addition, malassezin was not found to be a tyrosinase inhibitor (Sunny BioDiscovery, Santa Paula, CA). Malassezin, an indole metabolite of M. furfur, has been shown to be a safe and effective pigment lightening agent in-vitro, with a potentially new mechanism of action.
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