Relationship between skin redness and thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC) in healthy people without atopic dermatitis, and suggestions for improving skin redness via TARC
72
Presented by: Akihiro Tada
Introduction
More and more patients are presenting to dermatologists complaining of “skin redness” with or without concomitant symptoms of burning, stinging, or itching sensations. Skin redness is a straightforward clinical finding of facial erythema that is obvious even to the untrained eye. Interval flush or persistent facial erythema could be associated with multiple diseases, such as rosacea, contact dermatitis, acne, corticosteroid-dependent dermatitis, and systemic lupus erythematosus. Although various factors are involved in skin redness, we focused our study on thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC; also known as CC chemokine ligand 17), a biomarker for atopic dermatitis (AD). TARC is a member of the CC chemokine family and is a potent and selective chemoattractant for T helper 2 cells via CC chemokine receptor 4. Increasing evidence suggests that TARC is involved in the development of allergic diseases such as AD and bronchial asthma, and elevated blood levels of TARC have been observed in AD patients. Serum levels of TARC have served as a reliable biomarker of AD progression. However, the relationship between TARC and skin color in healthy individuals without AD has not been studied.
Experiment I
Eleven blood components including serum TARC levels and redness of facial images taken by VISIA Evolution (Canfield Scientific Inc., Fairfield, NJ, USA) for skin redness analysis were analyzed in 101 Japanese women between 20 and 69 years of age. In Japanese women aged 20–49 years (61 subjects; mean age, 34.56±9.48 years), a significant relationship was found between higher serum TARC levels and greater skin redness (correlation coefficient, 0.3261; p=0.0103). No correlation was seen between serum TARC levels and age (correlation coefficient, -0.0733; p=0.5744). The L* value was significantly smaller when serum TARC was higher (correlation coefficient, -0.2617; p=0.0416). No relationship was found between skin redness and age (correlation coefficient, 0.2338; p=0.0698). The L* value was significantly smaller with greater skin redness (correlation coefficient, -0.3411; p=0.0071). In conclusion, a positive correlation exists between skin redness and serum TARC levels. As skin redness and serum TARC levels increase, skin lightness decreases. Skin redness and serum TARC levels are unrelated to aging.
Experiment II
Since a relationship between skin redness and serum TARC levels was identified, we searched for materials that would inhibit serum TARC production in order to suppress skin redness. Since TARC is present in blood, we thought that materials that inhibit TARC production would be more effective if consumed in foods rather than if applied as cosmetics. Using human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, we evaluated whether interleukin (IL)-13 could enhance TARC production as a stimulus and whether food ingredients could inhibit this production. After evaluating a number of food materials, we found that artichoke (Cynara scolymus) leaf extract has inhibitory effects on TARC production in human vascular endothelial cells stimulated by IL-13.
Experiment III
We subsequently conducted a human clinical trial with 30 Japanese women between 28 and 39 years of age as the subjects, to see if there was improvement in serum TARC levels and skin redness before and after ingestion of a drink containing artichoke leaf extract. Ingestion of the drink resulted in significantly decreased serum TARC levels, significantly reduced skin redness on VISIA Evolution analysis, and significantly increased L* values compared to before ingestion. In conclusion, our study has shown that ingestion of a drink containing artichoke leaf extract decreased serum TARC levels, resulting in decreased skin redness. We also confirmed that reducing skin redness resulted in brighter skin.
Conclusion
By elucidating the relationship between skin redness and TARC, and proposing a method to improve skin redness via TARC, we have found a potential method to obtain healthier, brighter skin using food products.
More and more patients are presenting to dermatologists complaining of “skin redness” with or without concomitant symptoms of burning, stinging, or itching sensations. Skin redness is a straightforward clinical finding of facial erythema that is obvious even to the untrained eye. Interval flush or persistent facial erythema could be associated with multiple diseases, such as rosacea, contact dermatitis, acne, corticosteroid-dependent dermatitis, and systemic lupus erythematosus. Although various factors are involved in skin redness, we focused our study on thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC; also known as CC chemokine ligand 17), a biomarker for atopic dermatitis (AD). TARC is a member of the CC chemokine family and is a potent and selective chemoattractant for T helper 2 cells via CC chemokine receptor 4. Increasing evidence suggests that TARC is involved in the development of allergic diseases such as AD and bronchial asthma, and elevated blood levels of TARC have been observed in AD patients. Serum levels of TARC have served as a reliable biomarker of AD progression. However, the relationship between TARC and skin color in healthy individuals without AD has not been studied.
Experiment I
Eleven blood components including serum TARC levels and redness of facial images taken by VISIA Evolution (Canfield Scientific Inc., Fairfield, NJ, USA) for skin redness analysis were analyzed in 101 Japanese women between 20 and 69 years of age. In Japanese women aged 20–49 years (61 subjects; mean age, 34.56±9.48 years), a significant relationship was found between higher serum TARC levels and greater skin redness (correlation coefficient, 0.3261; p=0.0103). No correlation was seen between serum TARC levels and age (correlation coefficient, -0.0733; p=0.5744). The L* value was significantly smaller when serum TARC was higher (correlation coefficient, -0.2617; p=0.0416). No relationship was found between skin redness and age (correlation coefficient, 0.2338; p=0.0698). The L* value was significantly smaller with greater skin redness (correlation coefficient, -0.3411; p=0.0071). In conclusion, a positive correlation exists between skin redness and serum TARC levels. As skin redness and serum TARC levels increase, skin lightness decreases. Skin redness and serum TARC levels are unrelated to aging.
Experiment II
Since a relationship between skin redness and serum TARC levels was identified, we searched for materials that would inhibit serum TARC production in order to suppress skin redness. Since TARC is present in blood, we thought that materials that inhibit TARC production would be more effective if consumed in foods rather than if applied as cosmetics. Using human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, we evaluated whether interleukin (IL)-13 could enhance TARC production as a stimulus and whether food ingredients could inhibit this production. After evaluating a number of food materials, we found that artichoke (Cynara scolymus) leaf extract has inhibitory effects on TARC production in human vascular endothelial cells stimulated by IL-13.
Experiment III
We subsequently conducted a human clinical trial with 30 Japanese women between 28 and 39 years of age as the subjects, to see if there was improvement in serum TARC levels and skin redness before and after ingestion of a drink containing artichoke leaf extract. Ingestion of the drink resulted in significantly decreased serum TARC levels, significantly reduced skin redness on VISIA Evolution analysis, and significantly increased L* values compared to before ingestion. In conclusion, our study has shown that ingestion of a drink containing artichoke leaf extract decreased serum TARC levels, resulting in decreased skin redness. We also confirmed that reducing skin redness resulted in brighter skin.
Conclusion
By elucidating the relationship between skin redness and TARC, and proposing a method to improve skin redness via TARC, we have found a potential method to obtain healthier, brighter skin using food products.