Exploring the potential anti-inflammatory and wound-healing proprieties of Cepaea hortensis snail mucin

Long before its popularization as a skincare ingredient, snail slime was reported to have a variety of health-promoting attributes. Its medicinal use involved the treatment of ailments, such as anthrax, hernias, stomach pain, chest pain, as well as tuberculosis. The main aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory and wound-healing properties of snail slime from Cepaea hortensis (Müller, 1774) (brown garden snail). The slime was extracted by a mild method, and the anti-inflammatory characteristics were determined by croton-oil-induced mouse-ear edema. The histological study showed that the snail slime exerts its action at the level of inflammatory mediators, explaining the drastic decrease of edema (59% in comparison to the 47% of indomethacin). The daily application of 50 µL (15 mg/kg) of snail slime on excision wounds in rabbits proved to induce an almost full tissue repair after 24 days of treatment (87.80–92.7% wound closure in width and length, respectively). Analysis of the slime’s safety aspect allowed affirming the nontoxicity of snail slime on both the skin and eyes.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

In Vitro and In Silico Evaluations of <i>Boswellia carterii</i> Resin Dermocosmetic Activities

Boswellia carterii is a plant species belonging to the Burseraceae family. It grows up in trees or shrubs, and it is known for producing an aromatic resin commonly named frankincense or olibanum. This resin has been used in traditional medicine to treat various conditions such as inflammations, gastrointestinal disorders and traumatic injuries. Virtual screening and molecular docking are two in silico approaches used to predict potential interactions between ligands and the active site of a protein. These approaches are mainly used in natural product chemistry and pharmacology as a screening tool to select plant extracts or fractions for in vitro testing, as well as for the prediction of mechanisms of action. The aim of this research is the in silico and in vitro evaluations of the potential collagenase and elastase inhibitory activities of Boswellia carterii resin organic extracts (viz., methanol, n-hexane and ethyl acetate). The obtained results revealed that methanol and n-hexane exhibited the best collagenase inhibitory activity with values superior to 85%, whereas the methanol and ethyl acetate showed the highest elastase inhibition activity with inhibition values ranging between 40 and 60%. The molecular docking prediction confirmed the experimental results; moreover, the visualization of the ligand–protein interactions showed that the main compounds of the organic extracts may have mechanisms of action similar to the positive controls. Those findings are very promising and open new perspectives for the exploitation of Boswellia carterii resin as active agents for the development of anti-aging cosmeceuticals

In Vitro and In Silico Evaluations of Boswellia&nbsp;carterii Resin Dermocosmetic Activities

Boswellia carterii is a plant species belonging to the Burseraceae family. It grows up in trees or shrubs, and it is known for producing an aromatic resin commonly named frankincense or olibanum. This resin has been used in traditional medicine to treat various conditions such as inflammations, gastrointestinal disorders and traumatic injuries. Virtual screening and molecular docking are two in silico approaches used to predict potential interactions between ligands and the active site of a protein. These approaches are mainly used in natural product chemistry and pharmacology as a screening tool to select plant extracts or fractions for in vitro testing, as well as for the prediction of mechanisms of action. The aim of this research is the in silico and in vitro evaluations of the potential collagenase and elastase inhibitory activities of Boswellia carterii resin organic extracts (viz., methanol, n-hexane and ethyl acetate). The obtained results revealed that methanol and n-hexane exhibited the best collagenase inhibitory activity with values superior to 85%, whereas the methanol and ethyl acetate showed the highest elastase inhibition activity with inhibition values ranging between 40 and 60%. The molecular docking prediction confirmed the experimental results; moreover, the visualization of the ligand&ndash;protein interactions showed that the main compounds of the organic extracts may have mechanisms of action similar to the positive controls. Those findings are very promising and open new perspectives for the exploitation of Boswellia carterii resin as active agents for the development of anti-aging cosmeceuticals