Common whitening ingredient glutathione

In many countries and cultures, fair and flawless skin is often the standard of beauty, especially among people of color, making skin lightening products a huge growth market, which has led to a large number of skin lightening products, both topical and oral, flooding the market.

glutathione (GSH) is a common antioxidant in the human body and one of the common skin lighteners in the cosmetic industry. It is a low molecular weight mercaptan tripeptide composed of three amino acids, glutamic acid, cysteine and glycine.

In the human body, glutathione exists in both reduced and oxidized (GSSG) forms, which can easily be converted into each other.

GSH removes harmful free radicals or lipid peroxides from the body, converting them into fatty acids and water, while GSH is oxidized to GSSG.

Glutathione has a regulatory effect on melanin production, and antioxidants in general have a protective effect on the aging process, so the "dual" anti-melanin and anti-aging properties demonstrated by Watanabe's study are not surprising.

In fact, the link between blackening and aging has been studied in animal models.

Glutathione can directly or indirectly affect skin pigmentation by inhibiting tyrosinase activity during melanin formation.

Direct inactivation is done by binding to the active site of an enzyme containing copper ions, while indirect inactivation is done by eliminating free radicals and peroxides in an antioxidant manner.

During melanin formation, glutathione converts eumelanin to panmelanin and regulates the decolorization of melanocyte toxic substances. It systematically converts eumelanin to panmelanin regardless of exposure to sunlight, with subjective evaluations showing only mild to moderate whitening effects.

Wahab et al. suggest that a combination of topical and oral glutathione may have a better skin whitening effect than topical or oral glutathione monotherapy.

At the same time, glutathione can remove oxygen free radicals and ensure the integrity of cell membranes, so as to effectively regulate hormone levels, maintain a good endocrine and metabolic environment of the body, and help to quickly fade the color of the stain and reduce the area of the stain.

Glutathione also has a tendency to improve skin wrinkles, skin elasticity, and UV spots.

A growing body of research suggests that altering the glutathione antioxidant system is associated with multiple forms of programmed cell death in cancer cells, playing a key role in multiple forms of programmed cell death, including apoptosis, necrosis, iron necrosis, and autophagy.

Glutathione depletion increases the susceptibility of cancer cells to various forms of programmed cell death and their sensitivity to chemotherapy. These studies offer the possibility of new cancer treatments based on REDOX systems.

reference

• [1] WESCHAWALITS, THONGTHIPS, PHUTRAKOOLP, etal. Glutathione and its antiaging and antimelanogenic effects[J]. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol, 2017,10: 147-153.
• [2] WATANABEF,HASHIZUMEE,CHANGP,etal. Skin-whitening and skin-condition-improving effects of topical oxidized glutathione: a double-blind and placebo-controlled clinical trial in healthy women[J]. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol, 2014,7: 267-274.
• [3] HANDOGEB, DATUINMS, SINGZONIA. An open-label, single-arm trial of the safety and efficacy of a novel preparation of glutathione as a skin-lightening agent in Filipino women[J]. Int J Dermatol, 2016,55(2): 153-157.
• [4] WAHAB S, ANWAR A I, ZAINUDDIN A N, et al. Combination of topical and oral glutathione as a skin-whitening agent: a double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial[J]. IntJ Dermatol, 2021,60(8): 1013-1018.
• [5] SCHUMACKER P T. Reactive oxygen species in cancer: a dance with the devil[J]. Cancer Cell, 2015,27(2): 156-157.
• [6] LV H, ZHEN C, LIUJ, etal. Unraveling the Potential Role of Glutathione in Multiple Forms of Cell Death in Cancer Therapy[J]. Oxid Med Cell Longev, 2019,2019: 3150145.