Anti-photoaging Activity of Extract A from a Traditional Chinese Medicine Formula and its Mechanism of Action
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Abstract:
Because ultraviolet light (UV) can cause various skin diseases, scientists have been paying increasing attention to the study of skin care. The anti-photoaging effect of an extract A from a traditional Chinese medicine formula was studied on UV-irradiated rats. The morphology and ultrastructure of the skin tissues were determined by pathological analysis and electron microscopy, respectively. Immunohistochemical analysis and the fluorogenic quantitative polymerase chain reaction were used to determine the skin tissue matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP-1), MMP-2, MMP-9, and Ia antigen expression levels, as well as the gene expression levels of skin collagen type I and collagen type III, and connective tissue growth factor and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1). Compared with the model control group, rats in the low-, medium- and high-dose extract-A-treated groups showed mitigated dermal interstitial vasodilation, inflammatory cell infiltration, fibroblast hyperplasia, dermal elastic fiber degeneration, and focal accumulation, with decreases in skin thickness of the epidermis and the number of dermal fibroblasts of the irradiated skin. Extract A also improved the ultrastructure of the irradiated skin, and reduced the expression of TGF-β1 while improving that of collagen type III. Therefore, extract A of this traditional Chinese medicine formula possesses strong anti-photoaging activity.
