α-Ionone protects against UVB-induced photoaging in epidermal keratinocytes

Ruixuan Geng; Seong-Gook Kang; Kunlun Huang; Tao Tong

doi:10.1016/j.chmed.2022.09.003

α-Ionone protects against UVB-induced photoaging in epidermal keratinocytes

Chin Herb Med. 2022 Nov 9;15(1):132-138. doi: 10.1016/j.chmed.2022.09.003. eCollection 2023 Jan.

Authors

Ruixuan Geng¹, Seong-Gook Kang², Kunlun Huang^{1

3

4}, Tao Tong^{1

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Precision Nutrition and Food Quality, Key Laboratory of Functional Dairy, Ministry of Education, College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China.
² Department of Food Engineering, Mokpo National University, 61 Dorimri, Chungkyemyon, Muangun, Jeonnam 534-729, Korea.
³ Key Laboratory of Safety Assessment of Genetically Modified Organism (Food Safety), Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100083, China.
⁴ Beijing Laboratory for Food Quality and Safety, Beijing 100083, China.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate whether α-ionone, an aromatic compound mainly found in raspberries, carrots, roasted almonds, fruits, and herbs, inhibits UVB-mediated photoaging and barrier dysfunction in a human epidermal keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT cells).

Methods: The anti-photoaging effect of α-ionone was evaluated by detecting the expression of barrier-related genes and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in HaCaT cells. The levels of reactive oxygen species, oxidation product, antioxidant enzyme, and inflammatory factors were further analysed to underline the protective effect of α-ionone on epidermal photoaging.

Results: It was found that α-ionone attenuated UVB-induced barrier dysfunction by reversing keratin 1 and filaggrin in HaCaT cells. α-Ionone also reduced the protein amount of MMP-1 and mRNA expression of MMP-1 and MMP-3 in UVB-irradiated HaCaT cells, implying protective effects on extracellular matrix. Furthermore, HaCaT cells exposed to α-ionone showed significant decreases in interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-α as compared to UVB-irradiated HaCaT cells. α-Ionone treatment significantly inhibited the UVB-induced intracellular reactive oxygen species increase and malondialdehyde accumulation. Therefore, the beneficial effects of α-ionone on inhibiting MMPs secretion and barrier damage may be related to attenuated inflammation and oxidative stress.

Conclusion: Our results highlight the protective effects of α-ionone on epidermal photoaging and promote its clinic application as a potential natural anti-photodamage agent in future.

Keywords: UVB; epidermal keratinocytes; photoaging; α-ionone.