Fucoidan in cosmetics

Fucoidan is a generic name for a chemical compound contained in brown seaweeds such as kombu (Laminaria japonica) and mozuku (Cladosiphon okamuranus tokida). The glutinous substance where fucoidan is found is needed by the seaweeds themselves. During the low tide some seaweeds become exposed and in order for them to survive the direct contact with air and sun, they ooze this glutinous substance, which is rich in fucoidan. It is said that the cosmetic effect of fucoidan on human skin was first discovered by accident – in an experiment with fucoidan a researcher was repeatedly touching brown seaweed extract with her bare hands, and to her surprise the sores on the skin of her hands healed. These are the known cosmetic effects of fucoidan:

• It regenerates skin cells and activates the natural restorative ability of the skin. F-fucoidan promotes the production of heparin-binding polypeptide HGF (hepatocellular growth factor) within the human organism. HGF's effects include restoring damaged liver tissue and also repairing blood vessels. Subsequently the metabolism in skin cells becomes activated and damaged cells are more likely to be repaired.
• Fucoidan improves various skin problems by protecting the precious skin moisture. With dryness being one of the greatest enemies of beautiful skin, skin moisturizing should not be overlooked when trying to improve the condition of skin. When skin lacks water and oil, it starts to lose its elasticity and wrinkles tend to appear more easily. It has been proven in several experiments that fucoidan has moisturizing effects exceeding that of hyaluronic acid – a famous moisturizing cosmetic component.
• It helps whiten the skin. Fucoidan is known to protect skin from UV radiation and inhibit the production of melanin in skin that has already been exposed to the sun's rays.
• It creates an anti-inflammation protection barrier. Fucoidan has been proven to have an anti-inflammatory effect on skin. Fucoidan's anti-inflammatory effect will be explained in more detail in later articles.

Next we shall talk about the experiment in which the anti-aging effects of fucoidan were studied. The cosmetics used in this experiment contain high-molecular weight F-fucoidan extracted at normal temperature from kagome-kombu seaweed (scientific name Kjellmaniella crassifolia) as the main ingredient. No aromas, colors, surface active agents or synthetic antiseptic agents were added. The F-fucoidan used for this experiment was of molecular weight 10 million and above and it is known to have a strong moisturizing effect. Next we shall talk about the results of the comparative experiment using high-molecular fucoidan and a combination of high-molecular and low-molecular fucoidans. Skin aging was simulated by applying 300–320nm ultraviolet (UV) radiation to 5-week-old hairless mice for 12 weeks. We studied skin properties such as the intensity of formation of wrinkles, elasticity, skin epidermis thickness and the amount of skin collagen to measure the skin-aging prevention effect of the above-mentioned cosmetic containing the brown seaweed extract when applied to the skin of the mice. Wrinkle formation was measured using the D. L. Bissett method, with a scale for wrinkle intensity of 0 to 4. Skin elasticity was measured using a laser sensor to read the change of skin surface shape during suction/release and skin collagen was measured with the Biocolor-Sircol Collagenn assay method.
Test results:

1. Level of skin wrinkle formation. In this experiment, the mice were divided into four groups: G1 - a control group, which were not treated with UV radiation, G2 - a group treated with UV radiation but no cosmetic, G3 - a group treated with UV radiation and cosmetic containing only solvent, and G4 - a group treated with UV radiation and a seaweed extract cosmetic (with F-fucoidan). It was clearly visible that in mice (G4) treated with the cosmetic with F-fucoidan, the process of wrinkle formation was considerably slower compared to the other groups. Also, after the induction of skin wrinkles with UV radiation for the 12-week period was over, during the 13–24 week period, the F-fucoidan cosmetic was applied to all the groups that were previously treated with UV, and the improvement in the intensity of skin wrinkles was evident.
2. Other parameters. Along with wrinkle intensity, parameters such as skin elasticity, thickness, and the amount of skin collagen were measured. It was confirmed that through the remedial application of the seaweed extract containing F-fucoidan, the decline in skin elasticity caused by the UV radiation was minimized. The group that was treated with the seaweed extract remedially (during weeks 13–24) and preventively during weeks 1–12, showed almost the same level of skin elasticity as the control group, which was not treated with UV. It was observed that the skin epidermis of the mice that were treated with UV grew thicker. Also it was evident that mice that were later treated with the seaweed extract remedially, showed an improvement in their skin epidermis. The group that was treated with F-fucoidan seaweed extract both preventively and remedially displayed the best results of all. It was also established that the application of the seaweed extract with F-fucoidan helped slow the decrease in the amount of skin collagen. Both the group that was treated with the extract only remedially and the group treated preventively and remedially had skin collagen levels close to the control group. This experiment clearly shows that seaweed extract containing fucoidan can effectively prevent skin aging and improve the skin. Fucoidan was found to be able to suppress the formation of skin wrinkles, improve the appearance of wrinkles (by lessening their depth), reduce the decrease of skin elasticity, slow the decrease of epidermis and collagen.

Relation between fucoidan molecular weight and its anti-aging effects.

In order to explore the relation between fucoidan molecular weight and its anti-aging effects, fucoidan with molecular weight 100 thousand and higher was separated from fucoidan with molecular weight below 100 thousand using ultrafiltration. Using methods similar to the previous experiment, we established that high-molecular weight fucoidan was effective at suppressing the formation of wrinkles, lessening the depth of wrinkles, and protecting properties of the skin such as elasticity, level of epidermis and collagen. On the other hand, low-molecular weight fucoidan did not exhibit any significant anti-aging effects.

Skin-aging mechanism and preventive measures.

Skin aging is related to factors such as a slowing down of the regeneration of the horny layer, a slowing down of the ability to deactivate active oxygen, the induction of active oxygen by UV radiation and others. Also it is believed that skin aging can be understood through an analysis of qualitative and quantitative changes in the extracellular matrix (ECM). So, to prevent skin aging and improve the skin, the extracellular matrix metabolism of substances such as collagen should be enhanced. Transforming growth factor － β１ (TGF-β1) is known to activate this metabolic process. According to some researchers, brown seaweed extracts accomplish their skin anti-aging effects through enhanced extracellular metabolism because of the increased secretion of procollagen and TGF-β1 from skin fibroblasts. In one of the experiments, high-molecular weight fucoidan with concentrations of 0.1–100μg/ml was applied to a culture medium of normal human fibroblast cells (Hs68). After cultivation for 48 hours, the amounts of procollagen and TGF-β1 were measured. After the 48-hour cultivation period, the sample with the seaweed extract concentration (with high-molecular weight fucoidan) of 1μg/ml, had a procollagen level 1.7 times that of the control group, and for the sample with a concentration of 0.1μg/ml it was 1.5 times that of the control group. In the case of the low-molecular weight fucoidan, no substantial changes were registered.

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For reference:

1. 山田信夫　2004. 海藻と化粧品　p.528-540
2. R.Y. Morvan  1999. Fragr.J., 4, p.69-75
3. N.Kuznetsova, S. Leikin 1999. J.Biol.Chem., p.274, 36083