Protective effects of mycosporine-like amino acid-containing emulsions on UV-treated mouse ear tissue from the viewpoints of antioxidation and antiglycation.

Mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) are promising natural antioxidative compounds with cosmetic applications for the prevention of skin aging. In this study, we evaluated the protective effects of natural resources-derived MAA-containing emulsions on mouse ear tissue exposed to UV irradiation. DBA/2CrSlc male mice were irradiated by UV light at 120 mJ/cm2/day for 9 days. MAA-containing emulsions were prepared using mycosporine-2-glycine (M2G), shinorine (SHI), or porphyra-334 (P334) and applied to mice ears at a dose of 50 mg/ear/day. After that, collected ear skin tissues were subjected to the observation of melanocytes, investigation for antioxidative stress markers, and measurement of advanced glycation-end products (AGEs). In addition, the antiglycative effects of MAAs were investigated in vitro. MAA-containing emulsions prepared in this study upregulated the activities of total superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in mouse ear tissue exposed to UV irradiation. Increased accumulation of copper/zinc (Cu/Zn) -SOD and/or CAT was also found in mouse ear tissue on which M2G- or P334-containing emulsion had been applied. Furthermore, P334 exhibited an antiglycative effect on elastin in vitro. Although MAA-containing emulsions have antioxidative effects as well as in vitro antiglycation, a protective effect by the accumulation of AGEs in mice ears exposed to UV was not observed. Thus, application of MAA-containing emulsions stimulated or protected the expression of antioxidant-associated proteins, thereby leading to upregulation of antioxidative activities in mouse ear skin samples tissues under UV irradiation. Additional optimization of MAA-containing emulsions, including composition, process, and dosage should be considered for further improvement of efficacy.