A water soluble extract from Uncaria tomentosa (Cat's Claw) is a potent enhancer of DNA repair in primary organ cultures of human skin

Abstract

Cat's Claw (Uncaria tomentosa) water extracts, essentially free of oxindole alkaloids, have been shown to possess a broad spectrum of biological activity including DNA repair enhancement and antiinflammatory properties. These two biological mechanisms are key molecular targets to develop treatments that protect skin exposed to ultraviolet light from the sun. Because C-Med-100, a Cat's Claw water extract, is the only documented natural source of components that can up-regulate simultaneously both DNA repair and antiinflammation, its ability to modulate DNA repair in human skin organ cultures was undertaken. For this purpose skin cultures were treated with or without 5 mg/mL C-Med-100, irradiated with 0-100 mJ/cm2 UVB, and microscopically analysed for necrosis as well as the level of pyrimidine dimers using immunofluorescent TT-dimer antibody staining. The data clearly demonstrated that co-incubation with C-Med-100 reduced skin cell death from UV exposure, and this protection was accounted for by a concomitant increase in DNA repair. Based on these results, it was concluded that C-Med-100 was a natural plant extract worthy of further consideration as a sunscreen product.

Antioxidant metabolism induced by quinic acid. increased urinary excretion of tryptophan and nicotinamide

“…The data presented in this study on oral administration of Aqua Bimini (a quinic acid ammonium chelate) confirm earlier reports (Mammone et al, 2006;Pero et al, 2002Pero et al, , 2005Sheng et al, 2000aSheng et al, , 2000bSheng et al, , 2001Sheng et al, , 2005Åkesson et al, 2003a, 2003b, 2005 that quinic acid or quinic acid-containing water extracts possess DNA repair and/or immune enhancing properties when evaluated using serum thiol analyses as a surrogate DNA repair estimate (Figs 2-4). These data support that serum protein thiols can be increased in humans supplemented with quinic acid (Figs 2-4), and that these effects mirrored DNA repair enhancement as shown previously in other mammals.…”

Treatment of THP-1 cells with Uncaria tomentosa extracts differentially regulates the expression if IL-1β and TNF-α

“…Uncaria tomentosa extracts can act as an antioxidant and are able to enhance DNA repair (Sandoval et al, 2000;Miller et al, 2001;Akesson et al, 2003a;Goncalves et al, 2005;Mammone et al, 2006;Pilarski et al, 2006). In vitro studies have shown that Uncaria tomentosa may have an anti-apoptotic activity in some cells, such as lymphocytes, following treatment with apoptotic inducers such as hydrogen peroxide, diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, and peroxynitrite (Sheng et al, 1998;Akesson et al, 2003a,b).…”

Botanical Antioxidants for Skin Health in the World of Cosmeceuticals

“…Moreover, positive effects on UVB induced carcinogenesis, as well as patches induced by UVB were ameliorated with caffeine administration and topical application respectively in mice (Conney et al, 2008). In addition, co-incubation with quinic acid prevented skin death that was caused by UV damage in skin cultures (Mammone et al, 2006). …”