EFFECT OF A NEW BOTANICAL EXTRACT BASED ON THE RED ALGAE, PIKEA ROBUSTA, ON IN VIVO REDUCTION OF SURFACTANT-INDUCED SKIN IRRITATION.

• TR Number: 335
• Authors: Jindal, S., Johnson, C.H., Lods, L.M., Gruber, J.V., Qi, J. Arch Personal Care Products, LP, 70 Tyler Place, South Plainfield, NJ 07080.
• Materials Tested: NAB Pikea Robusta

Through millions of years of evolution, organisms have developed various biochemical mechanisms to combat environmental pollutants and insure cell viability. Today, we exist under a constant barrage of damaging elements. Some are external and environmental; some are internal and result from natural metabolic processes. These processes result in the formation of dangerous free radical species that attack and destroy the cells of our bodies each and every day. Recently, interest has been paid to one such reactive oxygen species, nitric oxide, which is produced as a byproduct of enzymatic synthesis. Nitric oxide (NO-) is directly related to the instigation of skin inflammation. It has been shown that a natural extract from the sea alga Pikea robusta, when tested in vitro is able to reduce concentration of NO- in cultured human keratinocytes. At 1%, the addition of the sea algae extract to a cell culture reduces the concentration of nitric oxide, a leading proponent of subclinical irritation, by nearly 80%.