l-Ergothioneine Protects Skin Cells against UV-Induced Damage—A Preliminary Study

Many changes related to aging at the cellular level may be due to the physiological condition of mitochondria. One of the most common types of damage of mtDNA is the so-called “common deletion” referring to a deletion of 4977 base pairs. In the skin cells this phenomenon probably is caused by oxidative damage of mtDNA induced by UV. The present study was aimed at evaluating the effect of the antioxidant l-ergothioneine on UV-induced damage in skin cells. The effect of l-ergothioneine on the reduced glutathione level was studied. The presence of the “common deletion” in human fibroblasts irradiated with UVA and treated with l-ergothioneine was evaluated by a polymerase chain reaction. We have demonstrated that l-ergothioneine enhanced the level of reduced glutathione and protected cells from the induction of a photoaging-associated mtDNA “common deletion”. In view of our results, l-ergothioneine could be an effective skin care and anti-photoaging ingredient

Designing of Biodegradable and Biocompatible Release and Delivery Systems of Selected Antioxidants Used in Cosmetology

Conjugates of antioxidants p-anisic (p-AA) and vanillic (VA) acids with nontoxic, biocompatible, and biodegradedable oligo-<i>(R,S)</i>-(3-hydoxybutyrate) carrier were synthesized, and their structural and biological characterization was performed. The molecular structure of the bioconjugates, in which antioxidants are covalently bonded with oligo­(3-hydroxybutyrate) (OHB) chains, has been proven by mass spectrometry supported by NMR. The bioconjugate hydrolytic degradation studies allowed gaining thorough insight into the hydrolysis process and confirmed the release of p-AA and VA. In vitro studies demonstrated that all of the conjugates studied were well tolerated by KB and HaCaT cell lines, as they had no marked cytotoxicity, while conjugates with a relatively short OHB carrier are optimal to support keratinocyte function. The preliminary study of the biological activity confirmed the protective effect of VA–OHB conjugates against H₂O₂-induced lipid peroxidation in human keratinocytes (HaCaT). It was also demonstrated that the selected bioconjugates can penetrate all layers of the skin, which shows their functionality and opens up their potential application in cosmetology