Reports
32nd Annual Meeting of Japanese Cosmetic Science Society, 2007

Augmentation of sebum production by Maitake-ethanol extract in vivo and in vitro

Mie NAGAO, Lan YUAN, Takashi SATO, Noriko AKIMOTO, Akira ITO

Purpose

Sebum secreted by sebaceous glands plays an important protective role in our skin defense system. It is suggested that a reduction of sebum secretion results in a decrease of the skin protective barrier leading to skin dryness. Some compounds are expected to increase sebum secretion, keep and raise the natural moisture function and, finally, improve skin disorders. On the other hand, the natural compounds derived from herbs have been widely used in medications and cosmetics, and it is useful to search for an effective component from herbs for the development of novel cosmetics. In this study, we investigated an ethanol extract from maitake (Maitake Extract) for its regulation of sebum production in hamster sebaceous gland cells and cultured sebocytes as compared with the ethanol extracts from Agaricus (Agaricus extract).

Methods

Cultured hamster sebaceous gland cells were treated with Maitake Extract or Agaricus extract (100 – 400 μg/ml), the sebum production was evaluated by oil red staining and quantitative analysis of triacylglycerols (TG). Meanwhile, in vivo experiments have been conducted in golden hamster ear skin by daily treatment of the skin with 1-4% of the different extracts in 95% ethanol/5% glycerol solutions (control group, treated with the solvent solution alone) over a two week period. The skin histological sections were stained by oil red staining for analysis of the lipid in the sebaceous gland.

Result

In the hamster sebaceous gland cells, Maitake Extract enhanced the formation of intracellular lipid droplets as well as increasing the production of intracellular triacylglycerols (TG) in a dose-dependent manner. Agaricus Extract also weakly increased the production of lipid droplets and TG, however, Maitake Extract was significantly stronger than Agricus Extract on the enhancement of sebum secretion in both experiments. Furthermore, in vivo experiments also demonstrated that Maitake Extract increased the accumulation of sebum production in sebaceous gland tissues in a dose-dependent manner.

Discussion

This study suggested that Maitake Extract has a significant augmentation effect on sebum production in vivo and in vitro. This augmentation effectiveneness is significantly stronger than that of Agaricus Extract. These results suggested that Maitake Extract stimulated the skin sebaceous glands themselves to produce and secrete sebum, which is different from those products that only cover the skin surface with lipid or moisture. Therefore Maitake Extract is expected to exert its skin protective effects on moisture and lipid production through the skin itself.

Related Resources
  • Gripin is a phytolipid compoound extracted from the Maitake mushroom.

    Gripin (Maitake Lipid Extract)


Related Products
  • Maijun Gripin Soap



Raw materials, OEM and PB option at Heimat Co., Japan Ltd
APCGCT: Asia Pacific Consortium of Gene and Cell Therapy
株式会社遺伝子治療研究所
  • Raw materials, OEM and PB option at Heimat Co., Japan Ltd
  • APCGCT: Asia Pacific Consortium of Gene and Cell Therapy
    株式会社遺伝子治療研究所