French Maritime Pine Bark Extract (Pycnogenol®) Effects on Human Skin: Clinical and Molecular Evidence.
Nutritional strategies to benefit skin health are of growing importance. Current approaches mainly involve nutritional supplements containing antioxidants which were initially designed to protect human skin against ultraviolet radiation-induced damage. Within recent years, however, a growing number of studies suggests that the beneficial effects of these products clearly extend beyond photoprotection. In this review we take the nutritional supplement Pycnogenol®, which is based on an extract prepared from French marine pine bark extract, as an example to illustrate this development. Accordingly, the existing data provide compelling evidence that Pycnogenol® intake does not only provide photoprotection, but may be used to (i) reduce hyperpigmentation of human skin and (ii) improve skin barrier function and extracellular matrix homeostasis.
IUF, Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, Dx00FC;sseldorf, Germany.
Susanne
S
Grether-Beck
Alessandra
A
Marini
Thomas
T
Jaenicke
Jean
J
Krutmann
D000818:Animals; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D028223:Pinus; D024301:Plant Bark; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012867:Skin / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D012880:Skin Pigmentation / Q000187:drug effects; D013473:Sunscreening Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*
D005419:Flavonoids; D010936:Plant Extracts; D013473:Sunscreening Agents; C024070:pycnogenols