Combating pigment spots for a homogenous skin

Age may bring wisdom, but it also brings less desirable things. 

As the years pass, ageing manifests itself on our skin as wrinkles, crow’s feet, and pigment spots. 

To regain a more youthful and vibrant look, consumers have traditionally tried to moisturise and smooth out the former two. But there is now growing awareness that a homogeneous skin tone is even more important for a youthful look than wrinkles and crow’s feet. 

BASF’s DN-Aura is a 100 percent natural active ingredient extracted from leaves of the Vietnamese Lansium domesticum tree. This active ingredient shrinks and lightens pigment spots on the skin through epigenetic action – mitigating a major sign of ageing in the process. 

Modulating an essential gene

In an internal study, our experts discovered the miR-490-3p molecule to be an epigenetic target that “silences” tyrosinase expression. This miRNA, which controls tyrosinase production in melanocytes, is inhibited by UVB radiation, a major environmental factor triggering an increase of pigment spots in the skin (fig. 1).

To stimulate this “tyrosinase gene silencer”, our company developed DN-Aura*, an epigenetic solution to shrink and lighten pigment spots on the skin. This active ingredient is a natural extract from the leaves of Asia’s Lansium domesticum, also known as langsat – a tree that is highly valued for its tasty native fruits and the antioxidant properties of several parts of the plant8. The extract is standardised in plant dry matter and available as a preservative-free powder.

Remarkable in-vitro effects

In vitro, our researchers demonstrated that our natural extract is capable of regulating melanin synthesis through an epigenetic pathway on three different levels: the miRNA miR-490-3p; the enzyme tyrosinase; and the pigment responsible for skin colour, melanin.

The researchers treated a culture of Asian human foreskin melanocytes derived from surgery with DN-Aura at 0.034% and 0.07%, and tested miR-490-3p expression after 24 hours of treatment using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (Q-RT-PCR). As fig. 2 shows, our active ingredient at 0.07% increases the level of miR-490-3p significantly by a factor of 1.4. At the lower dose, results were not significant. 

In separate studies, researchers showed that the extract decreases the level of tyrosinase in a melanocyte culture after 72 hours of treatment at 0.034% by 33%, and decreases the levels of melanin in a co-culture of human melanocytes and keratinocytes after 4 days of DN-Aura treatment at 0.07% by 34%.

Pigment spot surface area

In a group of 28 participants, DN-Aura at 0.3% significantly decreased pigment spot surface area on the face by 23% (p<0.01) vs baseline (D0) after 56 days. This improvement was significant compared to the placebo (-18%, p<0.05) (fig. 3A). The pigment spot surface area was evaluated in images via grey level analysis, on a defined pigment spot of the face (fig. 3B).

In a second group of 25 participants, DN-Aura significantly decreased pigment spot surface area by 20% (p<0.01) versus baseline, while the benchmark product did not show any effect.

Easy to process, 100% natural ingredient 

DN-Aura is delivered as a preservative-free, water-soluble powder that is easy to process: Dissolved at 20% w/w in water at room temperature, it is incorporated during final processing below 40°C, or at room temperature for cold processing. 

For cosmetics manufacturers this new active ingredient is a very effective, easy-to-process tool in order to combat a major sign of ageing. Its new mode of action based on epigenetic regulation ensures that pigment spots, perceived by many as an unwelcome nuisance, are dealt with at their root cause, rather than just on the surface. 

* INCI: Maltodextrin (and) Lansium Domesticum Leaf Extract. As a leaf extract, DN-Aura is of 100% natural origin according to ISO 16128 and complies with the COSMOS standard for organic and natural cosmetics.