title: Hydrolysis of arbutin to hydroquinone by human skin bacteria and its effect on antioxidant activity.
abstract: Arbutin, the beta-D-glucopyranoside of hydroquinone, is a skin whitening cosmetic ingredient. Compared with arbutin, hydroquinone is a more potent skin lightening agent, but shows cytotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, and genotoxicity. To evaluate whether skin microflora can hydrolyze arbutin to hydroquinone, we measured the hydrolytic activity of the main skin microflora: Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus. All strains hydrolyzed arbutin, with activities of 0.16-4.51 nmol/min/mg. The hydrolyzed hydroquinone showed more potent 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity and tyrosinase inhibition than arbutin. These findings suggest that normal skin microflora may increase the skin lightening effect of arbutin due to the antioxidant action of hydroquinone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Sciences and College of Pharmacy, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Seo-Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Bang
authors.forename: Sang-Jun
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Dong-Hyun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001104:Arbutin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006868:Hydrolysis / Q000187:drug effects; D006873:Hydroquinones / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008544:Melanocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D012867:Skin / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D012880:Skin Pigmentation / Q000187:drug effects; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000378:metabolism; D013212:Staphylococcus epidermidis / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D006873:Hydroquinones; D001104:Arbutin; C031927:hydroquinone