Aronia melanocarpa, a black chokeberry, contains high levels of phenolic acids and polyphenolic flavonoids and displays antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects. Through high-performance liquid chromatography for extracts from Aronia melanocarpa, we discovered that the extract contained chlorogenic acid and rutin as major ingredients. In this study, we examined the protective effects of the extract against ultraviolet B- (UVB)-induced photodamage in the dorsal skin of institute of cancer research (ICR) mice. Their dorsal skin was exposed to UVB, thereafter; the extract was topically applied once a day for seven days. Photoprotective properties of the extract in the dorsal skin were investigated by clinical skin severity score for skin injury, hematoxylin and eosin staining for histopathology, Masson's trichrome staining for collagens. In addition, we examined change in collagen type I and III, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 and MMP-3 by immunohistochemistry. In the UVB-exposed mice treated with the extract, UVB-induced epidermal damage was significantly ameliorated, showing that epidermal thickness was moderated. In these mice, immunoreactivities of collagen type I and III were significantly increased, whereas immunoreactivities of MMP-1 and 3 were significantly decreased compared with those in the UVB-exposed mice. These results indicate that treatment with Aronia melanocarpa extract attenuates UV-induced photodamage by attenuating UVB-induced collagen disruption: these findings might be a result of the chlorogenic acid and rutin contained in the extract. Based on the current results, we suggest that Aronia melanocarpa can be a useful material for developing photoprotective adjuvant.
Keywords: Aronia melanocarpa; collagens; epidermal thickness; matrix metalloproteinases; skin photodamage.