Safety Assessment of Cucumis sativus (Cucumber)-Derived Ingredients as Used in Cosmetics

A botanical reference set illustrating a weight of evidence approach for skin sensitization risk assessment

Recent years have seen an increase in the use of botanicals and natural substances (BNS) in consumer products such as cosmetics and household care products. Most work conducted to date to assess botanicals for human safety has focused their use as dietary supplements and thus on systemic toxicity. However, the induction of skin sensitization is a possible adverse effect of natural products in particular those that come into skin contact, especially for cosmetics that remain on the skin and are not rinsed off following use. Assessments of BNS ingredients are often challenging for a number of reasons: the BNS are complex mixtures that can be of mostly unknown composition; the composition can be highly variable even within the same plant species and dependent on how processed; the physical form of the BNS raw material can vary from a highly concentrated powdered extract to a liquid extract containing only a small percentage of the BNS; testing of the BNS raw materials in New Approach Methods (NAM) has uncertainty as these methods are often not developed or validated for complex mixtures. In this study, a reference set of 14 selected BNS which span the range of skin sensitization potential was complied. These data were used in a Weight of Evidence (WoE) approach to evaluate their skin sensitization potential with each of the data rich BNS being classified as either having strong evidence of inducing skin sensitization based on human topical use history, animal data, clinical data, composition data and NAM data, or having some but more limited (weak) evidence of inducing skin sensitization, or having strong evidence of no skin sensitization potential. When available data have sufficient potency related information, sensitization potency assessment is also provided based on WoE, classifying these BNS as either strong, moderate, or weak sensitizers, or non-sensitizers. An outline for a BNS skin sensitization risk assessment framework is proposed starting with exposure-based waiving and WoE assessment for higher exposures. In addition to demonstrating the application of the WoE approach, the reference set presented here provides a set of 'data rich' botanicals which cover a range of sensitization potencies that could be used for evaluating existing test methods or aid in the development of new predictive models for skin sensitization.

Fruit transcriptional profiling of the contrasting genotypes for shelf life reveals the key candidate genes and molecular pathways regulating post-harvest biology in cucumber

Cucumber fruits are perishable in nature and become unfit for market within 2-3 days of harvesting. A natural variant, DC-48 with exceptionally high shelf life was developed and used to dissect the genetic architecture and molecular mechanism for extended shelf life through RNA-seq for first time. A total of 1364 DEGs were identified and cell wall degradation, chlorophyll and ethylene metabolism related genes played key role. Polygalacturunase (PG), Expansin (EXP) and xyloglucan were down regulated determining fruit firmness and retention of fresh green colour was mainly attributed to the low expression level of the chlorophyll catalytic enzymes (CCEs). Gene regulatory networks revealed the hub genes and cross-talk associated with wide variety of the biological processes. Large number of SSRs (21524), SNPs (545173) and InDels (126252) identified will be instrumental in cucumber improvement. A web genomic resource, CsExSLDb developed will provide a platform for future investigation on cucumber post-harvest biology.

Advantages of Hyaluronic Acid and Its Combination with Other Bioactive Ingredients in Cosmeceuticals

This study proposes a review on hyaluronic acid (HA) known as hyaluronan or hyaluronate and its derivates and their application in cosmetic formulations. HA is a glycosaminoglycan constituted from two disaccharides (N-acetylglucosamine and D-glucuronic acid), isolated initially from the vitreous humour of the eye, and subsequently discovered in different tissues or fluids (especially in the articular cartilage and the synovial fluid). It is ubiquitous in vertebrates, including humans, and it is involved in diverse biological processes, such as cell differentiation, embryological development, inflammation, wound healing, etc. HA has many qualities that recommend it over other substances used in skin regeneration, with moisturizing and anti-ageing effects. HA molecular weight influences its penetration into the skin and its biological activity. Considering that, nowadays, hyaluronic acid has a wide use and a multitude of applications (in ophthalmology, arthrology, pneumology, rhinology, aesthetic medicine, oncology, nutrition, and cosmetics), the present study describes the main aspects related to its use in cosmetology. The biological effect of HA on the skin level and its potential adverse effects are discussed. Some available cosmetic products containing HA have been identified from the brand portfolio of most known manufacturers and their composition was evaluated. Further, additional biological effects due to the other active ingredients (plant extracts, vitamins, amino acids, peptides, proteins, saccharides, probiotics, etc.) are presented, as well as a description of their possible toxic effects.