Synoxyl AZ (Acetyl Zingerone) mitigate the dark side of melanin that may lead to melanoma
Sytheon in collaboration with Moffitt Cancer Center has published a study in the Antioxidants J (2023, 12(2), 278 doi.org/10.3390/antiox12020278), entitled “The Role of Acetyl Zingerone and Its Derivatives in Inhibiting UV-Induced, Incident, and Delayed Cyclobutane Pyrimidine Dimers”
Melanin has long been recognised as a skin protectant, but recent research has uncovered a dark side where melanin actively participates in on-going generation of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) in the dark after UV exposure ends via a novel pathway called melanin-chemiexcitation (MeCH). Post-UV exposure, dark CPDs (dCPDs) account for as much as 50% of all CPDs generated in melanocytes. We discovered that Acetyl Zingerone (AZ), an analog of Zingerone, not only inhibits formation of dCPDs but also attenuates incidental CPDs (iCPDs) that arise directly during UV exposure. Excessive exposure to UV light can lead to development of Melanoma.
Notably, while sunscreens block formation of iCPDs, they cannot block dCPDs formation. It is important to note that sunscreens are ineffective in neutralising high energy MeCh and can also function as photosensitises. We demonstrated that AZ could downregulate melanin synthesis, upregulate the nucleotide excision repair, and scavenge the ONOO − , all of which cumulatively reduces the amount of total CPDs. Interestingly, these observations were specific to the pigmented melanocytes. By investigating chemical analogs of AZ, we also observed that the pentane-2,4-dione group appears to be essential to AZ’s efficacy.
Based on these data, we propose that Synoxyl® AZ (Acetyl Zingerone) is a break-through “Next-generation Skin Care Additive” which is effective for use not only in sunscreens and skincare products generally but also in other specialised clinical applications owing to its extremely high efficiency in blocking formation of both iCPDs and dCPDs.
