earticle

영어

Extracts of M alaysian tropical plant such as F icus, Curcuma xanthorrhiza , Labisia pumila have been used as traditional medical applications in M alaysia. Since some of these plant extracts have been shown to have strong anti-oxidant activ ities, anti-m elan og enesis effect of these extracts w ere analyzed.
In ord er to perform m elan in an alysis at n on -tox ic con cen tra tion s, cytotoxic concentrations of each extracts were first determined by M TT (th iazolyl b lu e tetrazolium bromide) assay. Labisia pumila extract showed the strongest anti-melanogenesis activity. Treatment with the Labisia pumila extract inhibits α-melanocyte stimulating hormone induced melanin synthesis in B16F1 melanoma cells. However, the Labisia pumila extract did not inhibit mushroom tyrosinase activity in vitro. Instead, internal tyrosinase activity was reduced
significantly by the treatment of the Labisia pumila extract, which sug g ested that Labisia pumila extract su ppressed the expression of tyrosinase gene.
The results indicated that the L abisi a p um ila extract could be used as a new whitening agent for cosmetics. Further works are being performed to analyze intracellular tyrosinase protein level and M ITF (microphthalmia-associated transcription factor) expression by Western blot assay and RT-PCR, respectively.