Rosmarinic Acid May Protect Skin ECM from Negative Effects of BP-3 in Sunscreens

rosemary sprig

Introduction

Could a compound found in your kitchen protect against the negative effects that a chemical suncreen has on the skin? Today we look at an interesting paper from the Medical University of Bialystok, "The Beneficial Effect of Rosmarinic Acid on Benzophenone-3-Induced Alterations in Human Skin Fibroblasts."

In this study, Anna Galicka and Joanna Sutkowska-Skolimowska found evidence that a common chemical sunscreen, Benzophenone-3 (BP-3), may be harmful to the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the skin. The ECM provides structure to the skin and is also involved in maintaining its homeostasis.

Further, the researchers showed that rosmarinic acid (RA), a compound found in many culinary herbs (such as rosemary), may significantly reduce or even completely prevent the negative effects of BP-3.

Publication

The mentioned study was performed on a normal human fibroblast cell line, using untreated cells as controls, cells treated with BP-3 alone, and cells treated with both BP-3 and RA.

The researchers found that "BP-3 used at concentrations of 0.1–100 µM caused a number of unfavorable changes in the level of type I collagen, decorin, sulfated glycosaminoglycans, hyaluronic acid, elastin, and expression or activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-1, MMP-2), elastase and hyaluronidase. Importantly, "RA at a concentration of 100 µM significantly reduced or completely abolished the adverse effects of BP-3."

These results indicate that RA can potentially protect skin cells from disturbances caused by BP-3. Although further study is needed, this important discovery could prove to have a major impact on the formulation of cosmetic products.

Product Spotlight

As part of the investigation into the effects of BP-3 on skin ECM, and in turn, the mitigating effects of RA, the mentioned study made use of several Biocolor extracellular matrix assays.

Sulfated Glycosaminoglycan (sGAG) Measurement

Using the Biocolor Blyscan™ Glycosaminoglycan Assay, it was shown that BP-3 increased sGAG in both the conditioned medium and in cell lysate. RA was found to normalize or reduce this effect.

The influence of benzophenone-3 (BP-3) alone and in combination with rosmarinic acid (RA) on the content of sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) secreted into the culture medium and in cells, as determined by Glycosaminoglycan Assay Blyscan™ (Biocolor Ltd., Westbury, NY, USA). Values represent the mean ± SD of three experiments; * p < 0.05, vs. control (untreated cells); † p < 0.05, vs. respective samples treated with BP-3 alone.

Figure 1. The influence of benzophenone-3 (BP-3) alone and in combination with rosmarinic acid (RA) on the content of sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) secreted into the culture medium and in cells, as determined by Blyscan™ Glycosaminoglycan Assay. Values represent the mean ± SD of three experiments; * p < 0.05, vs. control (untreated cells);  p < 0.05, vs. respective samples treated with BP-3 alone.

Hyaluronic Acid (HA) Measurement

The study used the Biocolor Purple-Jelley™ Hyaluronan Assay to quantify culture medium HA content and also intracellular HA content. It was found that "RA (100 µM) increased the HA content in the conditioned medium of cells treated with 50 and 100 µM BP-3 compared to the corresponding samples treated with BP-3 alone and the untreated control as well as prevented induced by BP-3 the decrease of this GAG in cell lysate."

The study used the Biocolor Purple-Jelley™ Hyaluronan Assay to quantify culture medium HA content and also intracellular HA content. "RA (100 µM) increased the HA content in the conditioned medium of cells treated with 50 and 100 µM BP-3 compared to the corresponding samples treated with BP-3 alone and the untreated control as well as prevented induced by BP-3 the decrease of this GAG in cell lysate."
Figure 2. The influence of benzophenone-3 (BP-3) alone and in combination with rosmarinic acid (RA) on the content of hyaluronic acid (HA) in the culture medium and cells, as determined by Purple-Jelley Hyaluronan Assay. Values represent the mean ± SD of three experiments; * p < 0.05 vs. control (untreated cells);  p < 0.05 vs. respective samples treated with BP-3 alone.

Elastin Measurement

Using the Biocolor Fastin™ Elastin Assay, it was shown that BP-3 at all concentrations caused an increase in intracellular elastin content, while 100 µM RA entirely or partially reduced these changes.

Using the Biocolor Fastin™ Elastin Assay, it was shown that BP-3 at all concentrations caused an increase in intracellular elastin content, while 100 µM RA entirely or partially reduced these changes.
Figure 3. The influence of benzophenone-3 (BP-3) alone and in combination with rosmarinic acid (RA) on the content of intracellular elastin determined by Fastin™ Elastin Assay. The data are expressed as a percentage of the control sample assumed as 100%. Values represent the mean ± SD of three experiments; * p < 0.05 vs. control (untreated cells);  p < 0.05 vs. respective samples treated with BP-3 alone.

Citation

This content has been adapted from the paper cited below. You can find the entire paper via the link:

Galicka, Anna, and Joanna Sutkowska-Skolimowska. “The Beneficial Effect of Rosmarinic Acid on Benzophenone-3-Induced Alterations in Human Skin Fibroblasts.” International journal of molecular sciences vol. 22,21 11451. 23 Oct. 2021, doi:10.3390/ijms222111451

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Ilex Life Sciences LLC is an official distributor of Biocolor products. For more information on these Biocolor ECM assays, please visit our Extracellular Matrix Assays Collection.