Affiliations: Department of Farmaco-Biologico, University of
Messina, Messina, Italy | Department of Scienze Farmaceutiche, Università di
Catania, Italy | Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca per gli Alimenti e
Nutrizione (I.N.R.A.N.), Roma, Italy
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Francesco Cimino, Dep.
Farmaco-Biologico, School of Pharmacy, University of Messina, Viale Annunziata,
98168 Messina, Italy. Tel.: +39 090 6766574; Fax: +39 090 6766474; E-mail:
fcimino@pharma.unime.it
Abstract: UV light is considered one of the major etiological factor in skin
aging, cancer and also to systemic impairment such as immunosuppression.
Increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress
condition are known to play a central role in initiating and driving the
signalling events that lead to cellular response following UV irradiation. In
the present study we have investigated the photoprotective activity of a
standardized extract from red orange (ROE), obtained from three red orange
varieties and containing as main active principles phenolic compounds
(anthocyanins, flavanones and hydroxycinnamic acids) and ascorbic acid. The aim
of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of ROE in modulating cellular
responses to UVB in human keratinocytes (HaCaT). Our data indicate that ROE is
potentially able to efficiently counteract UVB-induced response, and in
particular some events associated to inflammation and apoptosis, such as NF-kB
and AP-1 translocation and procaspase-3 cleavage. This activity is probably due
to a block of cellular oxidative stress-related events. Thus we can propose ROE
as a useful natural standardised extract in skin photoprotection with promising
applications in the field of dermatology.
Keywords: Red orange extract, UVB, skin, inflammation, apoptosis, keratinocyte
Journal: BioFactors, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 129-138, 2007
