Facial wrinkles are the predominant phenotypes of skin aging. To date, one of the most effective ways to improve wrinkles is botulinum toxin type A (BoNT/A) injection, which inhibits muscle contractions by reducing acetylcholine release from neurons. However, since BoNT/A is a hazardous neurotoxin, the injection can only be performed by medical doctors and the procedure is only possible through invasive injection, causing inconveniences such as pain. To overcome these inconveniences, we tried to find a way to reduce wrinkles non-invasively via mechanisms similar to BoNT/A. We first designed in vitro assays to test BoNT/A-like muscle contraction inhibition in two different model systems. By using the assays, we identified Zanthoxylum piperitum (Z. piperitum) fruit extract as a BoNT-like reagent (27.7% decrease of muscle contraction rates by 1000 ppm of Z. piperitum extract treatment). Next, we determined mechanisms of how Z. piperitum extract decreases muscle contraction rates and found that the extract treatment inhibits electrical signal transduction in neurons. We also showed that among known components of Z. piperitum extract, quercitrin is responsible for muscle contraction inhibition. We further identified that Z. piperitum extract has synergistic effects with acetyl hexapeptide-8 and BoNT/A light chain, which are well-known BoNT-like peptides. Finally, we showed that topical treatment of the Z. piperitum extract indeed decreases facial wrinkles and treatment of Z. piperitum extract with acetyl hexapeptide-8 has a tendency to improve wrinkles synergistically (14.5% improvement on average). The synergistic effect of the combination is expected to improve wrinkles effectively by implementing the BoNT/A mechanisms in a non-invasive way.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Objectives: To assess the absorption of a-tocopherol acetate and 18b-glycyrrhetinic acid, which are used as active ingredients in toothpaste, into a reconstructed gingival tissue. Methods: EpiGingival TM tissues were treated with a 25% slurry of toothpaste containing 2% a-tocopherol acetate and 0.3% 18b-glycyrrhetinic acid, for 2 minutes. The treatment was repeated up to 6 times, with 1 hour intervals. After completion of all treatments, the active ingredients in the tissue extracts and receiver solutions were measured by high performance liquid chromatography.Results: Although a-tocopherol acetate was not detected, a-tocopherol was detected in the tissue extracts, indicating that a-tocopherol acetate was bioconverted to a-tocopherol after absorption. We could detect 18b-glycyrrhetinic acid both in the tissue extracts and in the receiver solutions, with a positive correlation to the number of treatments. Conclusions: We found that our toothpaste effectively delivered a-tocopherol acetate and 18b-glycyrrhetinic acid to a reconstructed gingival tissue in vitro.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the chewable LG pH 7 Rebalancer Ⓡ oral tablet to improve oral environments including maintenance of a neutral oral pH and promotion of oral mucin secretion in-vivo. Method: Oral pH and mucin contents were measured before and after LG pH 7 Rebalancer Ⓡ application. LG pH 7 Rebalancer Ⓡ