 Bacterial peptides even skin tone
A cream
that stimulates the production
of the melanin
linked with red hair could soon be
on the market, reports Patrick Walter in Chemistry & Industry |
 A cream based on bacterial peptides
that stimulates the production
of phaeomelanin, the melanin
linked with red hair, could soon be
on the market. Active Concepts, a US-based
supplier of cosmetics ingredients,
says that such creams have
a potentially huge market, as customers
from all ethnic groups seek
to even their skin tone.
The peptides were isolated from lactobacillus lactis – the same class of
bacteria used to ferment milk to
produce yogurt. The isolated peptides
were then screened using a
model of human skin to find those
that most affected the production
of melanin, the pigment that gives
skin its colour.
One peptide, dubbed AC
DermaPeptide Lightening, was
found to bind to a melanocortin I
receptor of melanocytes. This had
the effect of switching melanin
production from eumelanin to
phaeomelanin. Eumelanin is more
abundant in people with darker
skin, but high levels of phaeomelanin
are linked with fairer skin and
red hair. A second peptide that increases
the production of eumelanin
could form the basis of a new
tanning product.
Active Concepts president
Durant Scholz said: ‘One of the
trends that is predominant in the
cosmetics industry at the moment
is evening out skin tone.’ Scholz
adds that this trend used to be
limited to the Asian market but has
now gone global. The lightening
peptide could be used to reduce
localised hyperpigmentation such
as freckles or dark spots. ‘Even
spots or pimples lead to inflammation
and this leaves the skin with
localised skin darkening and can
accumulate over time, leading to a
less even skin tone,’ Scholz says.
However, Antony Young, head
of photobiology at King’s College
London, UK, warns that companies
need to tread carefully with compounds
that acts on melanocytes.
‘One of the concerns with stimulating
melanocytes is causing melanoma,’
Young says. ‘It depends on the
route they’re going to take but it is
something one would have to be very
careful of.’ Companies have
been looking at compounds that
can act on melanocytes for some
time, according to Young, but he
adds that none have made it to
market yet.
Scholz won’t speculate on how
soon products with these peptides
could come to market, but thinks
that they could make their way
into creams that could be used on
a daily basis. According to Scholz,
the peptides are not approved for
over-the-counter or quasi drug applications
so would not fall foul of
regulatory bodies like the US Food
and Drug Agency. Active Concepts
presented its new product to the
industry at the recent In Cosmetics
conference in Amsterdam.
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