Placental extracts regulate melanin synthesis in normal human melanocytes with alterations of mitochondrial respiration

Abstract

Placental extracts have been widely used as skin lightening agents in the Japanese cosmetic market. Here, we show that placental extracts contain factors that can decrease or increase melanin synthesis by normal human melanocytes in vitro in possible association with mitochondrial respiration. When normal human melanocytes were treated with a whole porcine placental extract, melanin synthesis was decreased. In contrast, a porcine placental extract in which exudates and insoluble materials including lipids had been removed increased melanin synthesis. In addition, the amount of tyrosinase, the enzyme critical for melanin synthesis, changed in accordance with the alteration of melanin synthesis. Interestingly, the amount of manganese‐dependent superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), a mitochondrial‐resident antioxidant enzyme, was increased when melanin synthesis was decreased by the whole placental extract. Mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis also changed following treatment with the placental extracts. These results suggest that placental extracts contain factors that can increase or decrease melanin synthesis by normal human melanocytes and that mitochondrial function may be associated with the placental extract‐induced regulation of melanogenesis.

Porcine placental extract facilitates memory and learning in aged mice

“…Placental extract can be simply obtained by hydrolysis of the placenta via both hydrochloric acid and enzymatic digestion, and it has been reported to have many biological activities in vitro and in vivo (Bak et al, 2018(Bak et al, , 2019Ito, Yamada, Matsumoto, & Imamura, 2018;Yamauchi et al, 2017;Yoshimoto et al, 2018). There are now several placental extract products available, and these have been used as drugs or in health care.…”

Effects of oral administration of equine placental extract supplement on the facial skin of healthy adult women: A randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study

“…22 The placental peptide was demonstrated to have strong antioxidant activity and is expected to confer UV protective and anti-inflammatory effects for skin. The intake of placental extract is expected to protect the skin from oxidative stress 8,22,23 and regulate melanin synthesis. 24 Several of the reports published regarding the effect of placental extracts in humans and mammals are inconsistent.…”

Fostering a healthy culture: Biological relevance of in vitro and ex vivo skin models

“…This is not surprising, considering that humans and rodents are separated by an estimated 96 million years of evolution 21 . Addressing this fact, many studies are being conducted on patient‐derived primary skin cells, including human keratinocytes, 22‐25 melanocytes, 26‐30 fibroblasts 31‐34 and cell co‐cultures 35‐37 . However, typical in vitro culture conditions fail to replicate and, in fact, do not come close to imitating the biomechanical and biochemical complexity of the microenvironment in which cells exist and to which they respond to in native tissues.…”