Glutathione as a skin whitening agent: Facts, myths, evidence and controversies

Sonthalia, Sidharth; Daulatabad, Deepashree; Sarkar, Rashmi

doi:10.4103/0378-6323.179088

Cited by 71 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…The copper-binding tripeptide GHK-Cu, which is popularly used in skin care products, is an antioxidant peptide with wound healing, anti-inflammatory, and anti-aging properties [89]. Glutathione, in addition to its well-established antioxidant properties, also exhibits skin-lightening effects [90]. Thus, the multifunctional nature of the antioxidant peptides identified from edible marine invertebrates (Table 2) warrants more research.…”

Section: Potential Applications In Food Therapy and Cosmeticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enzyme-Assisted Discovery of Antioxidant Peptides from Edible Marine Invertebrates: A Review

et al. 2017

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Marine invertebrates, such as oysters, mussels, clams, scallop, jellyfishes, squids, prawns, sea cucumbers and sea squirts, are consumed as foods. These edible marine invertebrates are sources of potent bioactive peptides. The last two decades have seen a surge of interest in the discovery of antioxidant peptides from edible marine invertebrates. Enzymatic hydrolysis is an efficient strategy commonly used for releasing antioxidant peptides from food proteins. A growing number of antioxidant peptide sequences have been identified from the enzymatic hydrolysates of edible marine invertebrates. Antioxidant peptides have potential applications in food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. In this review, we first give a brief overview of the current state of progress of antioxidant peptide research, with special attention to marine antioxidant peptides. We then focus on 22 investigations which identified 32 antioxidant peptides from enzymatic hydrolysates of edible marine invertebrates. Strategies adopted by various research groups in the purification and identification of the antioxidant peptides will be summarized. Structural characteristic of the peptide sequences in relation to their antioxidant activities will be reviewed. Potential applications of the peptide sequences and future research prospects will also be discussed.

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Section: Potential Applications In Food Therapy and Cosmeticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enzyme-Assisted Discovery of Antioxidant Peptides from Edible Marine Invertebrates: A Review

et al. 2017

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“…It is formed by three amino acids (glutamate, cysteine, and glycine) (Dickinson & Forman, ) and is involved in lightening skin color (Prota, ), which is one of the most noticeable phenotypic differences among humans (Malathi & Thappa, ). In some societies, women are particularly concerned about fair skin because it is perceived to increase their marriage prospects (Maneli et al, ; Sonthalia, Daulatabad, & Sarkar, ). Therefore, skin lightening products are estimated to constitute a half‐billion‐dollar industry, which benefits from exploiting the insecurity and anxiety of such persons.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Safety and efficacy of parenteral glutathione as a promising skin lightening agent: A controlled assessor blinded pharmacohistologic and ultrastructural study in an animal model

AlGhamdi

Kumar

Al-Rikabi

et al. 2020

Dermatologic Therapy

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Hyperpigmentation was induced in the skin of experimental animals using UVB at 6 J/cm2 three times a week for three consecutive weeks. Subsequently, glutathione was injected intraperitoneally in the experimental animals at doses of 10, 20, and 40 mg/kg body weight three times a week for three consecutive weeks. At the end of the experiment, blood samples and lung, kidney, liver, and skin tissue specimens were collected from animals for hematological, biochemical, histological, and electron microscopy examination. Glutathione at 40 mg/kg body weight/day reduced skin hyperpigmentation significantly, except at low doses. The skin lightening effect assessed by a chromameter was dose‐dependent. There were no statistically significant differences among the mean values of AST, ALT, creatinine, BUN, and CBC counts across the four groups. Lung, kidney, and liver tissue specimens did not show any histological toxic changes. The number of melanin granules was significantly lower in the group treated with the highest dose of glutathione compared to that in the control. Electron microscopy proved that glutathione at 20 and 40 mg/kg body weight/day was able to reduce the number of melanized cells significantly compared to that in the control. Parenteral glutathione was effective as a skin lightening agent and did not provoke any toxic effects in the employed animal model. The limitation of the study was conducted in guinea pigs and was of short‐term duration.

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“…Glutathione is commonly used as a skin whitening product. It is sulfhydryl‐containing compound composing of three amino acids: L‐cysteine, glycine, and glutamate . Skin whitening effect of glutathione is noticed as a side effect .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are various glutathione products for skin whitening including topical, oral, and parenteral preparation . Oral glutathione is the most common product in markets as a dietary supplement .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The clinical effect of glutathione on skin color and other related skin conditions: A systematic review

Dilokthornsakul

Dhippayom

Dilokthornsakul

2019

J of Cosmetic Dermatology

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Summary Background Glutathione is one of agents which is commonly used to lighten skin color in Asia as a dietary supplement. Previous studies suggest its potential effect of glutathione on skin color. However, the clinical efficacy of glutathione in oral form is still questionable due to its limited absorption and bioavailability. Aim To determine the clinical effects of glutathione on skin color and related skin conditions. Patients/Methods A systematic review was conducted using PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, EMBASE and Cochrane library were searched from inceptions to October 2017. All clinical studies evaluating the effect of glutathione on any skin effects in healthy volunteer were included. Results A total of four studies were included. Three studies were RCTs with placebo control, while one was a single‐arm trial. One study used topical form, while others used oral form of glutathione with 250 to 500 mg/day. We found that both oral glutathione with the dosage of 500 mg/day and topical 2.0% oxidized glutathione could brighten skin color in sun‐exposed area measured by skin melanin index. No significant differences in the reduction in skin melanin index were observed in sun‐protected area for any products. In addition, glutathione also has a trend to improve skin wrinkle, skin elasticity, and UV spots. Some adverse events but nonserious were reported. Conclusions Current evidence of the skin whitening effect of glutathione is still inconclusive due to the quality of included studies and inconsistent findings. However, there is a trend that glutathione might brighten skin color at skin‐exposed area.

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Glutathione as a skin whitening agent: Facts, myths, evidence and controversies

Cited by 71 publications

References 2 publications

Enzyme-Assisted Discovery of Antioxidant Peptides from Edible Marine Invertebrates: A Review

Enzyme-Assisted Discovery of Antioxidant Peptides from Edible Marine Invertebrates: A Review

Safety and efficacy of parenteral glutathione as a promising skin lightening agent: A controlled assessor blinded pharmacohistologic and ultrastructural study in an animal model

The clinical effect of glutathione on skin color and other related skin conditions: A systematic review

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