Highlighting the Biological Potential of the Brown Seaweed Fucus spiralis for Skin Applications

Abstract

Skin aging is a biological process influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The last ones, mainly exposure to UV radiation, increases reactive oxygen species (ROS) production leading to a loss of extracellular matrix, also enhanced by enzymatic degradation of matrix supporting molecules. Thus, and with the growing demand for eco-friendly skin products, natural compounds extracted from brown seaweeds revealed to be good candidates due to their broad range of bioactivities, especially as antioxidants. The aim of this study was to assess the dermo-cosmetic potential of different fractions obtained from the brown seaweed Fucus spiralis. For this purpose, in vitro antioxidant (Total Phenolic Content (TPC), 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP), Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC)), anti-enzymatic (collagenase, elastase and hyaluronidase), antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory (NO production) and photoprotective (ROS production) capacities were evaluated. Although nearly all fractions evidenced antioxidant effects, fraction F10 demonstrated the highest antioxidant ability (EC50 of 38.5 µg/mL, DPPH assay), and exhibited a strong effect as an inhibitor of collagenase (0.037 µg/mL) and elastase (3.0 µg/mL). Moreover, this fraction was also the most potent on reducing ROS production promoted by H2O2 (IC50 of 41.3 µg/mL) and by UVB (IC50 of 31.3 µg/mL). These bioactivities can be attributed to its high content of phlorotannins, as evaluated by LC-MS analysis, reinforcing the potential of F. spiralis for further dermatological applications.

Applying Seaweed Compounds in Cosmetics, Cosmeceuticals and Nutricosmetics

“…On the other hand, fucofuroeckol-A derived from the brown seaweed Ecklonia stolonifera Okamura, exhibited protective activity against UVB radiation [191]; other studies also exhibited similar results for eckol and dieckol [192,193]. A correlation between the antioxidant activity and the hyaluronidase inhibitory capacity with higher molecular weight phlorotannins was observed [172], a behavior that was also observed in other works [194][195][196]. Some properties of brown algal phlorotannins are summarized in Table 3.…”

Evaluation of a Brown Seaweed Extract from Dictyosiphon foeniculaceus as a Potential Therapeutic Agent for the Treatment of Glioblastoma and Uveal Melanoma

“…Especially the potential of brown algae extracts, which contain positive ingredients like polyphenols, alginates and sulfated fucans (fucoidans) is often described in the literature [8][9][10][11]. Among these positive effects are anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and anti-angiogenic properties [12][13][14][15], making it highly interesting for cancer and skin therapies [16,17]. Fucoidans have also been described by our group for their anti-oxidative, VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) lowering and binding effects [18][19][20][21].…”

Loliolide, a New Therapeutic Option for Neurological Diseases? In Vitro Neuroprotective and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of a Monoterpenoid Lactone Isolated from Codium tomentosum

“…In this assay, RAW 264.7 cells were subjected to an inflammatory condition mediated by lipopolysaccharides (LPS) [ 72 ]. The inflammation status was estimated by the quantification of NO levels, which are directly proportional to inflammation.…”