Oligopeptides in Sensory, Proteins in Winter Skin and Carotenoids: Literature Findings

By: Charles Fox, Independent Consultant

Posted: November 26, 2008, from the December 2008 issue of Cosmetics & Toiletries.

This month’s survey of recent patent and literature research describes money-making ideas in the personal care industry, ranging from oligopeptides for sensory properties and peptides for hair, to a dandruff treatment and colorless carotenoids for sun damage protection.

Skin and Skin Care
Oligopeptides in sensory: Evonik Goldschmidt discloses oligopeptide-containing dermatological compositions for increasing sensory detection in skin.¹ The described compositions contain oligopeptides ^{4, 5 or 6}; amino acids; and the dipeptide sequences Ile-Pro and/or Pro-Ile. The oligopeptides can be acylated or biotinylated. An example is shown in Formula 1.

Correcting aging, ischemic cell metabolism: Sephar describes a new pharmaceutical and cosmetic composition and its applications in correcting the metabolic activity of aging and ischemic cells.² The composition, referred to as Cell Restructuring Complex 50 (CRC-50), contains methylsilanol mannuronate, serum albumin from soybean extract, triterpene saponosides from Centella asiatica extract, gamma-oryzanol, alpha-tocopherol, caffeine, zinc gluconate, flavonoids such as the escin from Aesculus hippocastanum extract, and ammonium glycyrrhizinate. The effects of this composition on collagen production and stimulation of cultured fibroblasts were shown.

Aniline, o-toluidine penetration: Korinth et al. have published on the enhancement of percutaneous penetration of aniline and o-toluidine in vitro using skin barrier creams.³ During the production and processing of rubber, aniline (ANI) and the human carcinogen o-toluidine (OT) are released. Recently, these investigators showed that in rubber industry workers, frequent use of skin barrier creams increased their internal exposure of ANI and OT.

In the present study, diffusion cells were used to investigate the effects of three creams on percutaneous penetration of ANI and OT: two skin barrier creams designed to protect skin, and one skin care cream without protectants. In addition, the penetration of OT from a mixture with a workplace-specific lubricant also was studied. The experiments were conducted on human skin that was either treated with skin cream or untreated. A considerable percutaneous penetration enhancement of test compounds was observed for the treated skin, as compared with the untreated skin; the greatest penetration enhancement was noted with an o/w emulsion-based skin barrier cream. The lowest penetration enhancement was observed with the skin care cream-treated skin. The in vitro data supported the findings that the percutaneous absorption of aromatic amines significantly increased in workers who used skin creams. The efficacy of skin creams to protect the percutaneous penetration of aromatic amines was not confirmed by these studies.