Researchers Focus On Other Methods To Skin Lightening Beyond Tyrosinase Inhibition

Photo Credit: Plazancosmetics

Around this time last year I posted an article called The Perfect Skin Lightening Regimen, listing all the common skin lightening ingredients found in modern skin care products and their mechanism of melanin inhibition. The sole purpose of creating that post (and I don’t think I explained it very well or I kind of lost the point of it all while writing it) was to show that the ‘perfect skin lightening regimen’ covered more than one area of melanin inhibition. 

The more I read studies on the synthesis of melanin, the more I learn of how many steps and triggers there are to this process. So far I’ve blogged about the three main ‘points’ of melanin production which are:

• Hormonal trigger (not in all cases, but very prevalent in hyperpigmentation or melasma)
• Creation of tyrosinase (enzyme)
• Assimilation of melaoncytes into cells

There are points in between these which I constantly learning about. I read on a wonderful website (CosmeticDesign) an article about researchers focusing on other pathways to skin lightening other than the common tyrosinase inhibitors. It’s a very interesting article on what’s to come in the world of skin lightening.

Cells in the body are always linked to receptors and in this particular study; they have discovered a link between beta2-andrenergic receptors and melanin production. Here are a few excerpts from the article:

One potential target for skin lightening research could be the regulation of beta2-adrenoreceptors, the researchers argue. 

 According to the review, human epidermal melanocytes express beta2-andrenergic receptors and their activation have been shown to increase melanin synthesis. In addition, UV-induced melanogenesis was also found to be blocked by beta2-andregenic antagonists. 

Therefore, the scientists argue it would be interesting to investigate whether such antagonists could have skin lightening activity in vivo.

Other pathways highlighted as ripe for research included new ways to inhibit MITF, a transcriptional regulator of tyrosinase, and the regulation of sex hormones.

A product is currently being created by Oriflame that works to lighten skin by disrupting two pathways to melanogenesis. As of now, the market for the product will be in Eastern countries but who knows; perhaps this interest in discovering other pathways to skin lightening may spill over to products aimed for the West as well.

“We have just developed a very powerful skin lightening technology that works on two pathways to elicit additive effect - octadecenoic acid which exerts its effect by binding to peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor- γ (PPAR-γ) and a plant extract of Rumex Occidentalis which inhibits tyrosinase activity. A strong synergistic effect was shown by targeting these pathways”

Link To Article:
Tyrosinase not the only pathway of interest for skin lightening ingredients