Sunscreen Ingredient Octocrylene’s Potency to Disrupt Vitamin D Synthesis

Abstract

Octocrylene is a widely used ingredient in sunscreen products, and it has been observed that the use of sunscreen has been increasing over the last few decades. In this paper, we investigated the way in which sunscreen’s ingredient octocrylene may disrupt normal vitamin D synthesis pathway, resulting in an imbalance in vitamin D levels in the body. The key techniques used for this insilico investigation were molecular docking, molecular dynamic (MD) simulation, and MMPBSA-based assessment. Vitamin D abnormalities have become very common in human health. Unknown exposure to chemicals may be one of the important risk factors. In molecular docking analysis, octocrylene exhibited a binding energy of −11.52 kcal/mol with vitamin D binding protein (1KXP) and −11.71 for the calcitriol native ligand. Octocrylene had a binding potency of −11.152 kcal/mol with the vitamin D receptor (1DB1), and calcitriol had a binding potency of −8.73 kcal/mol. In addition, octocrylene has shown binding energy of −8.96 kcal/mol with CYP2R1, and the calcitriol binding energy was −10.36 kcal/mol. Regarding stability, the root-mean-square deviation (RMSD), the root-mean-square fluctuation (RMSF), the radius of gyration, hydrogen bonding, and the solvent-accessible surface area (SASA) exhibited that octocrylene has a stable binding pattern similar to calcitriol. These findings revealed that incessant exposure to octocrylene may disrupt normal vitamin D synthesis.

Risk factors associated with blood vitamin D levels in COVID-19 patients

“…The use of sunscreen has the ability to block ultraviolet rays and is also good for skin health if used correctly or not excessively; it even reported no effect on vitamin D levels (Passeron et al, 2019). But the use of octocrylene as a raw material for making sunscreen lately is reported to be able to inhibit the synthesis of vitamin D in the skin (Abdi et al, 2022).…”

Promising Functions of Novel Vitamin D Derivatives as Cosmetics: A New Fountain of Youth in Skin Aging and Skin Protection

“…Some sources show that limiting the exposure to UVB would block conversion of inactive pro-vitamin D (7DHC) to the active form of vitamin D potentially leading to an insufficient vitamin D production in the skin [42,304]. Some sunscreens can block the necessary vitamin D production in the skin [305,306]. This dual role makes exposure to UVB good and bad at the same time [307].…”

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“…Vitamin D deficiency is a rising global health problem [192], affecting a billion people around the globe [193]. Vitamin D plays a crucial role in physiological calcium and phosphate homeostasis and therefore affects human skeletal health.…”