J. Cosmet. Sci., 70, 17–31 (January/February 2019) 17 Protective Effects of Sacran, a Natural Polysaccharide, Against Adverse Effects on the Skin Induced by Tobacco Smoke MOEKO DOI, YUKI SAGAWA, KYOHEI SASANO, TAKUMI TANAKA, TAEKO MIZUTANI, YURI OKANO, and HITOSHI MASAKI, DAITO KASEI KOGYO CO., LTD., Asahi-ku, Osaka 535-0005, Japan (M.D., T.T.) Department of Bionics, Tokyo University of Technology Graduate School, Hachioji-shi 192-0982, Japan (Y.S., K.S., T.M., Y.O., H.M.) Accepted for publication January 8, 2019. Synopsis Recent increases in air pollution have raised concerns about its adverse effects on human health. Sacran is a natural polysaccharide isolated from a cyanobacterium. We previously reported that sacran improves skin conditions because of its effects as an artifi cial barrier against external stimuli, which suggested that sacran might protect the skin against air pollutants. The goal of this study was to characterize the potential of sacran to protect human skin against damage from air pollutants and to compare sacran with hyaluronic acid (HA). Sacran that was topically applied on the skin stayed on the surface or in the stratum corneum. Sacran-treated fi lters had a shielding effect against benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and aldehyde compounds contained in tobacco smoke. Sacran suppressed the upregulation of cytochrome P4501A1 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), which is a xenobiotic-metabolizing enzyme induced by BaP, and other responses against tobacco smoke in HaCaT keratinocytes. Furthermore, topical application of a serum containing 0.04% sacran on the skin reduced levels of carbonylated proteins in corneocytes of tobacco smokers. Sacran showed superior effects in every characteristic measured, compared with HA. We conclude that sacran ameliorates the oxidative stress initiated by tobacco smoke by shielding the skin surface and protects human skin. INTRODUCTION Recently, the adverse infl uence of various air pollutants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, and particulate mat- ter, on human health has caused increased concern in the world, especially in India, China, Saudi Arabia, and African and Southeast Asian countries (1). In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that more than 80% of people living in urban areas where air pollution is monitored are exposed to air pollutants beyond the limitations Address all correspondence to m.doi@dreamnet-daitokasei.co.jp.
JOURNAL OF COSMETIC SCIENCE 18 of the WHO. Several studies have shown that air pollutants interfere signifi cantly with the normal functions of lipids, deoxyribonucleic acid, and proteins in human skin, which is the outermost line of defense of the human body, via oxidative damage (2–10). Those effects lead to skin aging infl ammatory or allergic conditions, such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, and acne and skin cancer (11,12). It is easily imagined that the route of air pollutants that damage human health is through inhalation. However, re- cent epidemiological studies regarding the skin have reported that human beings liv- ing in places where they are exposed to much higher levels of air pollutants, such as China and India, suffer from skin problems such as pigmented spots and wrinkles at a high frequency (13). In addition, the number of people who suffer from sensitive skin in Japan increases every year, and about 30% of them feel that the causative factor of their sensitive skin is air pollution (14). In general, it has been demonstrated that PAHs induce infl ammation by activating the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) signaling pathway (15). AhR is a chemical receptor that responds to exogenous and endogenous chemicals by inducing or repressing the expression of several genes that have protec- tive or toxic effects (15). In that regard, it has been clarifi ed that the activation of AhR induces the overexpression of cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) and generates excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) (15–17). In daily life, we are frequently exposed to tobacco smoke and exhaust gas, which are types of air pollutants. This raises the possibility that we suffer from adverse effects of aldehyde compounds (ACs), benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), and other chemicals because they are major components in tobacco smoke and exhaust gas. Among various tissues of the body, it is of greatest concern that the skin is intensively infl uenced by air pollutants because of its localization at the outermost surface of the body. ACs cause protein carbonylation in the skin, and it has also been reported that ROS are generated from carbonylated proteins (CPs) when irradiated with blue light through a type-I photosensitization reaction (18). The sum of these facts suggests that ACs initiate an oxidation loop due to the accumula- tion of CPs in the skin. On the other hand, BaP, which is a representative PAH that is produced in industrial combustion processes, enhances the secretion of infl ammatory cyto- kines from human epidermal keratinocytes because of the excess production of ROS through the activation of AhR signaling (19). Thus, it is considered a possibility that air pollutants directly cause these adverse actions because of their penetration through the skin. To avoid that risk, it is very important to develop an effective approach to prevent/ reduce the penetration of air pollutants, PAHs, and ACs, into the skin. Thus, we designed an approach to shield the skin surface using a topically applied fi lm to interfere with the penetration of air pollutants. Sacran, a large molecular weight polysaccharide isolated from Aphanothece sacrum (Suizenji-nori) algae, has unique characteristics and is composed of 11 kinds of monosaccharides, including ionized groups containing sulfate groups and carboxylic acid groups (20–22). We have previously reported that sacran forms a hydrophobic gel-like fi lm in combination with polyols and improves skin conditions in individuals who suffer from atopic dermatitis (23–25). From those results, we expected that sacran would protect the skin against environmental stimuli such as chemicals and air pollutants (e.g., tobacco smoke) because of its formation of an artifi cial skin barrier. Thus, the purpose of this study was to clarify whether sacran reduces skin damage caused by air pollutants focusing on oxidative stress compared with hyaluronic acid (HA), which is commonly used in skin care products.
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