Blueberry Extracts as a Novel Approach to Prevent Ozone-Induced Cutaneous Inflammasome Activation

Abstract

The World Health Organization estimates that 7 million people die every year due to pollution exposure. Among the different pollutants to which living organism are exposed, ozone (O3) represents one of the most toxic, because its location which is the skin is one of the direct tissues exposed to the outdoor environment. Chronic exposure to outdoor stressors can alter cutaneous redox state resulting in the activation of inflammatory pathways. Recently, a new player in the inflammation mechanism was discovered: the multiprotein complex NLRP1 inflammasome, which has been shown to be also expressed in the skin. The topical application of natural compounds has been studied for the last 40 years as a possible approach to prevent and eventually cure skin conditions. Recently, the possibility to use blueberry (BB) extract to prevent pollution-induced skin toxicity has been of great interest in the cosmeceutical industry. In the present study, we analyzed the cutaneous protective effect of BB extract in several skin models (2D, 3D, and human skin explants). Specifically, we observed that in the different skin models used, BB extracts were able to enhance keratinocyte wound closure and normalize proliferation and migration responses previously altered by O3. In addition, pretreatment with BB extracts was able to prevent ozone-induced ROS production and inflammasome activation measured as NRLP1-ASC scaffold formation and also prevent the transcripts of key inflammasome players such as CASP1 and IL-18, suggesting that this approach as a possible new technology to prevent cutaneous pollution damage. Our data support the hypothesis that BB extracts can effectively reduce skin inflammation and be a possible new technology against cutaneous pollution-induced damage.

Evaluating the effect of ozone in UV induced skin damage

“…Ozone was generated via electrical corona arc discharge from O 2 and combined with ambient air to flow into a plexiglass box (ECO3 model CUV-01, Italy, Model 306 Ozone Calibration Source, 2B Technologies, Ozone Solution), as previously described (Pambianchi et al, 2020) and constantly monitored by an ozone detector. The dose was based on our previous studies.…”

Antioxidant and reduced skin-ageing effects of a polyphenol-enriched dietary supplement in response to air pollution: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study

“…Extracts and phenolic compounds derived from many plants, such as blueberry, green tea, grape, pomegranate and different marine algae, have been proven to be effective in attenuating the cellular oxidative stress and inflammation induced by different air pollutants (23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28). Published preclinical studies have shown that extracts from Lippia citriodora leaf, Olea europaea leaf, Sophora japonica, and Rosmarinus officials, as well as its main bioactive phenolic compounds, are effective antioxidants with the ability to counteract different environmentally induced skin damage, such as UV radiation (29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39).…”

Inflammasome involvement in CS-induced damage in HaCaT keratinocytes

“…HaCaT cells were grown on coverslips in a 12-well plate at a density of 1 × 10 5 cells/mL as previously described (Pambianchi et al 2020 ). After CS/air exposure, cells were fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) in PBS for 10 min at RT.…”