Screening of Xerosis Inhibitor from Seaweed Extracts Using HaCaT Keratinocyte

The primary function of the skin is to protect the body from the unwanted environmental influences. The outermost layer of the skin is stratum corneum which consists of corneocytes surrounded by lipid regions. Ceramides covalently bound to keratinocytes are essential for the barrier function of the skin, which can be disturbed in the disease, like xerosis. Xerosis is an abnormal dryness of the skin which reduced the thickness of stratum corneum and ceramide content decreasing with age. In this study, 36 seaweed extracts have been tested for screening of xerosis inhibitory agent by in vitro HaCaT keratinocyte assay. Ishige sinicola and Helminthocladia australis induced the significant amount of ceramide-like substance I in HaCaT keratinocyte among the tested seaweed extracts. Sargassum fulvellum, Chondrus ecellatus and Gigartina tenella also induced the ceramide-like substance I whereas Helminthocladia australis and Pachymeniopsis elliptica induced the ceramide-like II from HaCaT keratinocyte.