Wearable and Wavelength-Tunable Near-Infrared Organic Light-Emitting Diodes for Biomedical Applications.

Near-infrared organic light-emitting diodes (NIR OLEDs) have significant potential for wearable phototherapeutic applications because of the unique properties of the OLEDs, including their free-form electronics and the excellent biomedical effects of NIR emission. In spite of their tremendous promise, given that the majority of NIR OLEDs in previous research have relied on the utilization of an intrinsically brittle indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode, their practicality in the field of wearable electronics is inherently constrained. Here, we report wearable and wavelength-tunable NIR OLEDs that employ a high-performance NIR emitter and an innovative architecture by replacing the ITO with a silver (Ag) electrode. The NIR OLEDs permit wavelength tuning of emissions from 700 to 800 nm and afford stable operation even under repeated bending conditions. The NIR OLEDs provide a lowered device temperature of 37.5 °C even during continuous operation under several emission intensities. In vitro experiments were performed with freshly fabricated NIR OLEDs. The outcomes were evaluated against experimental results performed using the same procedure utilizing blue, green, and red OLEDs. When exposed to NIR light irradiation, the promoting effect of cell proliferation surpassed the proliferative responses observed under the influence of visible light irradiation. The proliferation effect of human hair follicle dermal papilla cells is clearly related to the irradiation wavelength and time, thus underscoring the potential of wavelength-tunable NIR OLEDs for efficacious phototherapy. This work will open novel avenues for wearable NIR OLEDs in the field of biomedical application.

The effects of hydroporation on melasma with anti-aging cocktail.

BACKGROUND: Jet-M is a device for epidermal peeling and is used to deliver substances by spraying air and microdroplets. Previously, a case was treated with a mixed solution of copper-GHK, oligo-hyaluronic acid, Rhodiola extract, tranexamic acid, and ß-glucan. The results showed significant improvement of aged skin. AIMS: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of hydroporation on melasma with the formulation in a small group of volunteers. METHODS: Clinical effects were evaluated by both subjective and objective methods including melanin index (MI) and erythema index (EI) measurement. RESULTS: Clinically, pigmentation and erythema were relieved and also both MI and EI decreased. Histopathologic observation revealed that type IV collagen and procollagen were increased in the upper dermis. Furthermore, the number of p63-positive cells is increased along the basement membrane. These results all suggest that hydroporation with GHR formulation induced anti-aging effects by reconstruction of extracellular matrix. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the treatment may have depigmenting effects and erythema decreasing effects by enhancing the microenvironment of the skin.

Hypopigmentary effects of ethyl P-methoxycinnamate isolated from Kaempferia galanga.

We isolated crystals from the chloroform fraction of an ethanol extract of Kaempferia galanga and identified it as ethyl p-methoxycinnamate through nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. In the present study, we found that ethyl p-methoxycinnamate significantly decreased melanin synthesis in B16F10 murine melanoma cells stimulated with α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH). In a cell-free system, however, ethyl p-methoxycinnamate did not directly inhibit tyrosinase, the rate-limiting enzyme of melanogenesis. Instead, it inhibited tyrosinase activity in B16F10 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, Western blot analysis showed that ethyl p-methoxycinnamate decreased microphthalmia-associated transcription factor and tyrosinase levels in α-MSH-stimulated B16F10 cells. These results indicate that the pigment-inhibitory effect of ethyl p-methoxycinnamate results from downregulation of tyrosinase. Ethyl p-methoxycinnamate isolated from K. galanga could be developed as a skin whitening agent to treat hyperpigmentary disorders.

Redox status is critical for stemness in skin equivalents.

The skin is constantly exposed to environmental oxidative stress. Skin equivalent (SE) models are three-dimensional systems in which cell-cell or cell-matrix interactions can be investigated. In this study, the effects of vitamin C or plant extracts with high antioxidant activities were tested. There was no significant difference in the epidermal thickness, but the basal cells became cuboidal when vitamin C or plant extracts were supplemented. Furthermore, immunohistochemical staining showed linear and intense staining of α6 and ß1 integrin along the basement membrane in vitamin C or plant extract treated models. The p63 and PCNA were also stained. Results showed that the number of p63 and PCNA positive cells was higher in the vitamin C or plant extract treated models than in the control SEs. Although the relationship between oxidative stress and stem cells is not known, our results suggest that redox status affects the stemness and the proliferative potential of epidermal basal cells by modulating microenvironment to epidermal basal stem cells.