408-854-1883 starts at $30 per hr home care

Marketplace

Soon

408-854-1883 text

Marketplace

Soon

Book an Appointment

Affordable in home care | starts at $28 per hr

Licorice extract protects the skin from UV-induced stress

The skin is constantly challenged, and very often harmed, by environmental stressors such as UV radiation and chemicals. To cope with UV radiation, various skin cells have evolved a complex protective antioxidant defense system. New research published in the January 2015 issue of Experimental Dermatology introduces a new plant-derived agent which protects skin from the harmful effects of UV irradiation.

“We found out that the antioxidant active Licochalcone A, which is the main component of the root extract of the plant Glycyrrhiza inflata (Chinese Licorice), is able to protect the skin from subsequent UV irradiation damage from within by strengthening the skin’s own defense systems.

Thus plant extracts with the described profile are able to provide a protective shield from sun exposure supporting and going beyond the action of sunscreens regarding sun protection,” said Gitta Neufang, a researcher involved in the work from Beiersdorf AG, Hamburg, Germany.

In order to test the effects of the plant-derived active Licochalcone A in cell culture, Neufang and colleagues isolated human skin cells and irradiated them with solar simulated light mimicking sun exposure. They were able to show that skin cells pretreated with Licochalcone A produced a higher amount of ‘self-protecting’, antioxidant molecules. Consequently, significantly less harmful radicals were detected in Licochalone A treated human skin cells.

In addition, they also conducted a study with healthy volunteers demonstrating that the application of a lotion containing Licochalcone A-rich root extract on the inner forearms for two weeks protected the skin from damage after UV irradiation.

These findings show that the skin´s own defense system can be stimulated by the application of licorice extract. In combination with UV-filters this approach therefore might provide superior sun protection by not only offering physical but also biological sun protection. “Even with the best sun-protecting filter system (SPF50+) 2% of UV-rays still reach the skin and cause damage. We hope that our study helps to improve the effectiveness of sunscreens to protect from the harmful aspects of sun exposure.” concluded Gitta Neufang.

Story Source: Wiley Pub

 

Natural products from plants protect skin during cancer radiotherapy

Plant-derived natural product chemicals could offer protection to the skin from the harmful effects of gamma radiation during cancer radiotherapy, suggests research.
Radiotherapy for cancer involves exposing the patient or their tumor more directly to ionizing radiation, such as gamma rays or X-rays. The radiation damages the cancer cells irreparably. Unfortunately, such radiation is also harmful to healthy tissue, particularly the skin over the site of the tumor, which is then at risk of hair loss, dermatological problems and even skin cancer. As such finding ways to protect the overlying skin are keenly sought.

Writing in the International Journal of Low Radiation, Faruck Lukmanul Hakkim of the University of Nizwa, Oman and Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan, and colleagues there and at Macquarie University, New South Wales, Australia, Bharathiar University, India and Konkuk University, South Korea, explain how three ubiquitous and well-studied natural products derived from plants can protect the skin against gamma radiation during radiotherapy.

Hakkim and colleagues discuss the benefits of the organic, antioxidant compounds caffeic acid (CA), rosmarinic acid (RA) and trans-cinnamic acid (TCA) used at non-toxic concentrations.

They tested the radio protective effect of these compounds against gamma-radiation in terms of reducing levels of reactive oxygen species generated in skin cells by clinical relevance dose of gamma ray in the laboratory and in terms of the damage to the genetic material DNA, specifically double strand breaks in laboratory samples of human skin cells (keratinocytes).

They found that treating the human skin cells with CA, RA and TCA can protected the cells by 40, 20 and 15 percent respectively from gamma ray toxicity.

They suggest that the protective effect arises because the compounds mop up the reactive oxygen species and chemically deactivate them as well as enhancing the body’s natural DNA repair mechanisms.

The team suggests that these compounds might best be used as skin protectants during combination chemo- and radio-therapy. Further work is under way to investigate the clinical potential of mixtures of the three natural products.

Story Source:

Materials provided by Inderscience Publishers.

Rosmarinic acid accumulation is shown in hornworts, in the fern family Blechnaceae and in species of several orders of mono- and dicotyledonous angiosperms.[3]

It is found most notably in many Lamiaceae (dicotyledons in the order Lamiales), especially in the subfamily Nepetoideae.[4] It is found in species used commonly as culinary herbs such as Ocimum basilicum (basil), Ocimum tenuiflorum (holy basil), Melissa officinalis (lemon balm), Rosmarinus officinalis(rosemary), Origanum majorana (marjoram), Salvia officinalis (sage), thymeand peppermint[5] or in plants with medicinal properties such as common self-heal (Prunella vulgaris) or species in the genus Stachys.

It is also found in other Lamiales such as Heliotropium foertherianum, a plant in the family Boraginaceae.

It is also found in plants in the family Marantaceae (monocotyledons in the order Zingiberales)[3] such as species in the genera Maranta (Maranta leuconeura, Maranta depressa) and Thalia (Thalia geniculata).[6]

Rosmarinic acid and the derivative rosmarinic acid 3′-O-β-D–glucoside can be found in Anthoceros agrestis, a hornwort(Anthocerotophyta).

Caffeic acid can be found in the bark of Eucalyptus globulus.[3] It can also be found in the freshwater fern Salvinia molesta[4] or in the mushroom Phellinus linteus.

Cinnamic acid is obtained from oil of cinnamon, or from balsams such as storax.[5] It is also found in shea butter. Cinnamic acid has a honey-like odor;[6] it and its more volatile ethyl ester (ethyl cinnamate) are flavor components in the essential oil of cinnamon, in which related cinnamaldehyde is the major constituent. Cinnamic acid is also part of the biosynthetic shikimate and phenylpropanoidpathways. Its biosynthesis is performed by action of the enzyme phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) on phenylalanine.

Skin bacteria could protect against disease

There are more and more examples of the ways in which we can benefit from our bacteria. According to new research, this is true for the skin as well. The work has shown that the most common bacteria on human skin secrete a protein which protects us from the reactive oxygen species thought to contribute to several skin diseases. The protein has an equally strong effect on dangerous oxygen species as known antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin E.
Propionibacterium acnes.
Credit: Matthias Mörgelin, Lund University

There are more and more examples of the ways in which we can benefit from our bacteria. According to researcher Rolf Lood from Lund University in Sweden, this is true for the skin as well. He has shown that the most common bacteria on human skin secrete a protein which protects us from the reactive oxygen species thought to contribute to several skin diseases. The protein has an equally strong effect on dangerous oxygen species as known antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin E.

The skin bacterium is called Propionibacterium acnes.

“The name originates from the fact that the bacterium was first discovered on a patient with severe acne. But whether it causes acne is uncertain — it may have been present merely because it is so common,” says Rolf Lood at the Department of Clinical Sciences in Lund.

He has discovered that the “acne bacterium” secretes a protein called RoxP. This protein protects against what is known as oxidative stress, a condition in which reactive oxygen species damage cells. A common cause of oxidative stress on the skin is UV radiation from the sun.

“This protein is important for the bacterium’s very survival on our skin. The bacterium improves its living environment by secreting RoxP, but in doing so it also benefits us,” explains Rolf Lood.

Oxidative stress is considered to be a contributing factor in several skin diseases, including atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and skin cancer.

Since Propionibacterium acnes is so common, it is present in both healthy individuals and people with skin diseases. According to Rolf Lood, however, people have different amounts of the bacterium on their skin, and it can also produce more or less of the protective protein RoxP.

This will now be further investigated in both patients and laboratory animals by Lood and his team. The human study will compare patients with basal cell carcinoma, a pre-cancerous condition called actinic keratosis and a healthy control group. The study will be able to show whether there is any connection between the degree of illness and the amount of RoxP on the patient’s skin.

The study on laboratory animals will also examine whether RoxP also functions as protection. Here, mice who have been given RoxP and others who have not will be exposed to UV radiation. The researchers will then observe whether the RoxP mice have a better outcome than those who were not given the protective protein.

“If the study results are positive, they could lead to the inclusion of RoxP in sunscreens and its use in the treatment of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis,” hopes Rolf Lood. His research findings have recently been published in an article in the Nature journal Scientific Reports.

Story Source:

Materials provided by Lund University.

Embryonic pluripotent stem cell can grow into all kinds of germ layers – tissues

Embryonic stem cell can grow into a heart cell or liver cell or whatever cells they are grown into. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are stem cells derived from the undifferentiated inner mass cells of …

Source: Embryonic pluripotent stem cell can grow into all kinds of germ layers – tissues

Embryonic pluripotent stem cell can grow into all kinds of germ layers – tissues

Embryonic stem cell can grow into a heart cell or liver cell or whatever cells they are grown into.

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are stem cells derived from the undifferentiated inner mass cells of a human embryo.

Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they are able to grow (i.e. differentiate) into all derivatives of the three primary germ layers: ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm.

In other words, they can develop into each of the more than 200 cell types of the adult body as long as they are specified to do so.

Embryonic stem cells are distinguished by two distinctive properties: their pluripotency, and their ability to replicate indefinitely.

ES cells are pluripotent, that is, they are able to differentiate into all derivatives of the three primary germ layers: ectoderm, endoderm, and mesoderm.

These include each of the more than 220 cell types in the adult body.

Pluripotency distinguishes embryonic stem cells from adult stem cells found in adults; while embryonic stem cells can generate all cell types in the body, adult stem cells are multipotent and can produce only a limited number of cell types.

Additionally, under defined conditions, embryonic stem cells are capable of propagating themselves indefinitely.

This allows embryonic stem cells to be employed as useful tools for both research and regenerative medicine, because they can produce limitless numbers of themselves for continued research or clinical use.

Because of their plasticity and potentially unlimited capacity for self-renewal, ES cell therapies have been proposed for regenerative medicine and tissue replacement after injury or disease.

Diseases that could potentially be treated by pluripotent stem cells include a number of blood and immune-system related genetic diseases, cancers, and disorders; juvenile diabetes;

Parkinson’s; blindness and spinal cord injuries.

Besides the ethical concerns of stem cell therapy, there is a technical problem of graft-versus-host disease associated with allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

However, these problems associated with histocompatibility may be solved using autologous donor adult stem cells, therapeutic cloning, stem cell banks or more recently by reprogramming of somatic cells with defined factors (e.g. induced pluripotent stem cells).

Other potential uses of embryonic stem cells include investigation of early human development, study of genetic disease and as in vitro systems for toxicology testing.

How quickly do different cells in the body replace themselves?

cell-renewal

The question of cell renewal is one that all of us have intuitive daily experience with. We all notice that our hair falls out regularly, yet we don’t get bald (at least not until males reach a certain age!).

Similarly, we have all had the experience of cutting ourselves only to see how new cells replaced their damaged predecessors. And we donate blood or give blood samples without gradually draining our circulatory system.

All of these examples point to a replacement rate of cells, that is characteristic of different tissues and in different conditions, but which makes it abundantly clear that for many cell types renewal is a part of their story.

To be more concrete, our skin cells are known to constantly be shed and then renewed. Red blood cells make their repetitive journey through our bloodstream with a lifetime of about 4 months (BNID 107875, 102526).

We can connect this lifetime to the fact calculated in the vignette on “How many cells are there in an organism?” that there are about 3×1013 red blood cells to infer that about 100 million new red blood cells are being formed in our body every minute!

Replacement of our cells also occurs in most of the other tissues in our body, though the cells in the lenses of our eyes and most neurons of our central nervous system are thought to be special counterexamples. A collection of the replacement rates of different cells in our body is given in Table 1.

 

Be an investor as we step in cancer prevention space

Have an equity share with Motherhealth as we open http://www.avatarcare.net soon to stop cancer before it progress, identify your molecular age and a health concierge combining telemedicine and participatory health care.

indiegogo final.JPG

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/predictive-medicine-for-longevity-and-cancer-cure-health/x/3335495#/

Copyright © 2026 KRM Digital Solutions