Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2009, 10(12), 5326-5349; doi:10.3390/ijms10125326
Review

The Hunt for Natural Skin Whitening Agents

Nico Smit 1,* email, Jana Vicanova 2 email and Stan Pavel 3 email
1 Department of Clinical Chemistry, room L02-56, Leiden University Medical Center, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands 2 DermData, Prague, Czech Republic 3 Department of Dermatology, Leiden University Medical Center, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 5 November 2009; in revised form: 24 November 2009 / Accepted: 9 December 2009 / Published: 10 December 2009
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Inhibitors of Melanogenesis Related Processes: Application to Food and Cosmetic Industry)
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Abstract: Skin whitening products are commercially available for cosmetic purposes in order to obtain a lighter skin appearance. They are also utilized for clinical treatment of pigmentary disorders such as melasma or postinflammatory hyperpigmentation. Whitening agents act at various levels of melanin production in the skin. Many of them are known as competitive inhibitors of tyrosinase, the key enzyme in melanogenesis. Others inhibit the maturation of this enzyme or the transport of pigment granules (melanosomes) from melanocytes to surrounding keratinocytes. In this review we present an overview of (natural) whitening products that may decrease skin pigmentation by their interference with the pigmentary processes.
Keywords: whitening; tyrosinase inhibitors; natural agents; cosmetics

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Smit, N.; Vicanova, J.; Pavel, S. The Hunt for Natural Skin Whitening Agents. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2009, 10, 5326-5349.

AMA Style

Smit N, Vicanova J, Pavel S. The Hunt for Natural Skin Whitening Agents. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2009; 10(12):5326-5349.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Smit, Nico; Vicanova, Jana; Pavel, Stan. 2009. "The Hunt for Natural Skin Whitening Agents." Int. J. Mol. Sci. 10, no. 12: 5326-5349.

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