Phytochemical Study and In Vitro Screening Focusing on the Anti-Aging Features of Various Plants of the Greek Flora

Abstract

Skin health is heavily affected by ultraviolet irradiation from the sun. In addition, senile skin is characterized by major changes in the collagen, elastin and in the hyaluronan content. Natural products (NPs) have been shown to delay cellular senescence or in vivo aging by regulating age-related signaling pathways. Moreover, NPs are a preferable source of photoprotective agents and have been proven to be useful against the undesirable skin hyperpigmentation. Greek flora harvests great plant diversity with approximately 6000 plant species, as it has a wealth of NPs. Here, we report an extensive screening among hundreds of plant species. More than 440 plant species and subspecies were selected and evaluated. The extracts were screened for their antioxidant and anti-melanogenic properties, while the most promising were further subjected to various in vitro and cell-based assays related to skin aging. In parallel, their chemical profile was analyzed with High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) and/or Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-HRMS). A variety of extracts were identified that can be of great value for the cosmetic industry, since they combine antioxidant, photoprotective, anti-melanogenic and anti-aging properties. In particular, the methanolic extracts of Sideritis scardica and Rosa damascena could be worthy of further attention, since they showed interesting chemical profiles and promising properties against specific targets involved in skin aging.

Pilot Cultivation of the Vulnerable Cretan Endemic Verbascum arcturus L. (Scrophulariaceae): Effect of Fertilization on Growth and Quality Features

“…Carotenoids, phenolics and flavonoids are important natural antioxidants, stimulating the plant's ability to cope with stress; when these are consumed, they have beneficial properties promoting human health [36,38]. Apart from a single report derived from a general screening for antioxidant and anti-melanogenic properties [8,[57][58][59], this study reports herein for the first time an assessment of total phenolic and flavonoid contents in V. arcturus. Although optimal fertilization depends on the targeted secondary metabolite, when considering all three antioxidants together, INM fertilizer use by foliar application and soil application of the conventional fertilizers or biostimulants appear to be accepted options (Figure 6B-D).…”

Cytotoxicity and estrogenicity of a novel 3-dimensional printed orthodontic aligner

“…15 The intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels of human gingival fibroblasts with the highest noncytotoxic concentration of each sample were assessed on the basis of the 2 0 ,7 0 -dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) method. 24,25 Briefly, cells were cultured until confluency in 96-well clear-bottomed black microplates and then were incubated overnight with samples diluted in serum-free medium at a final concentration (v/v) of 20%. DCFH-DA was added at a final concentration of 10 mM, and after 30 minutes, fluorescence emission was determined at 520 nm after excitation at 485 nm.…”

Plants of the Greek Flora as photoprotective cosmeceuticals

“…The use of medicinal plants and their extracts as an efficient nature-based strategy to protect against skin pathologies is growing. Many of these extracts have phenolic compounds, such as flavonoids, with well-established photoprotective or/and anti-photocarcinogenic activity against UV-induced damages 3 . The great diversity of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) growing in Greece offers vast possibilities for the discovery of novel photoprotective compounds of natural origin 4 .…”