Honokiol protects skin cells against inflammation, collagenolysis, apoptosis, and senescence caused by cigarette smoke damage.

Author: Samara Eberlin

Published at: July 05, 2015

International Journal of Dermatology, 2017. DOI: 10.1111/ijd.13569.
Costa A, Facchini G, Pinheiro ALTA, Silva MS, Bonner MY, Arbister J, Eberlin S.

Pollution, especially cigarette smoke, is a major cause of skin damage. We assessed the effects of the small molecule polyphenol on reversing cigarette smoke-induced damage in vitro to relevant skin cells. Keratinocyte (HaCat) cultures were exposed to cigarette smoke and, after 48 hours, IL-1β and IL-8 were measured in cell supernatants. Moreover, TIMP-2 production, apoptosis rate, and senescence β-galactosidase expression were evaluated in primary human fibroblast (HFF-1) cultures. Honokiol at 10 μM reduced IL-1β production by 3.4-fold (p<0.05), and at 10 and 20 μM reduced IL-8 by 23.9% and 53.1% (p<0.001), respectively, in HaCat keratinocytes. In HFF-1, honokiol restored TIMP-2 production by 96.9% and 91.9% (p<0.001), respectively, at 10 and 20 μM, as well as reduced apoptosis by 47.1% (p<0.001) and 41.3% (p<0.01), respectively. Finally, honokiol reduced senescence-associated β-galactosidase expression in HFF-1. Honokiol protects both HFF-1 and HaCat against cigarette smoke-induced inflammation, collagenolysis, apoptosis, and senescence.