Photoprotective effect of the fucose-containing polysaccharide FucoPol

Bruno M Guerreiro; Filomena Freitas; João C Lima; Jorge C Silva; Maria A M Reis

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.117761

Photoprotective effect of the fucose-containing polysaccharide FucoPol

Carbohydr Polym. 2021 May 1:259:117761. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.117761. Epub 2021 Feb 9.

Authors

Bruno M Guerreiro¹, Filomena Freitas², João C Lima³, Jorge C Silva⁴, Maria A M Reis⁵

Affiliations

¹ UCIBIO-REQUIMTE, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal; LAQV-REQUIMTE, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal; CENIMAT/I3N, Physics Department, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal.
² UCIBIO-REQUIMTE, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal. Electronic address: a4406@fct.unl.pt.
³ LAQV-REQUIMTE, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal.
⁴ CENIMAT/I3N, Physics Department, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal.
⁵ UCIBIO-REQUIMTE, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal.

PMID: 33674014
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.117761

Abstract

This study reports the performance of FucoPol, a fucose-containing bacterial polysaccharide, as a photostable agent with high absorption yield at concentrations as low as 0.02 % (w/v). FucoPol is non-cytotoxic, efficiently protects from UVA and UVB at concentrations of 0.02-2 % (w/v) and 0.2-2 % (w/v), respectively, has over 94 % overall photostability up to 1.5 h of irradiation time. The lowest concentration studied (0.02 %, w/v) shows a sun protection factor (SPF) of 2.61 ± 0.08. The SPF-to-concentration unit ratio showed that FucoPol is about 60-fold more photoprotective than combinations of common organic and inorganic UV filters. In vitro radiation exposure experiments of adhered Vero epithelial and PM1 keratinocytic cells in the presence of 0.25 % (w/v) FucoPol further showed that cell viability was preserved, and delayed radiation-induced cell death was prevented. Overall, FucoPol outperforms common cosmetic biopolymers like xanthan and fucogel. These results are very promising for the development of bio-based sunscreen formulations.

Keywords: FucoPol; Photostable; Polysaccharide; SPF; Sunscreen; UV radiation.