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Parthenolide-depleted Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) protects skin from UV irradiation and external aggression

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Abstract

The skin is under continual assault from a variety of damaging environmental factors such as ultraviolet irradiation and atmospheric pollutants, and as organisms age the cumulative damage exceeds the capacity of endogenous antioxidant defenses resulting in chronic inflammation and premature aging. Botanical extracts such as Feverfew containing naturally occurring antioxidants could replenish the depleted cutaneous stores and perhaps forestall these degenerative changes. A parthenolide-depleted extract of Feverfew (PD-Feverfew), which was free of sensitization potential, was found to possess free radical scavenging activity against a wide range of reactive oxygen species and with greater activity than Vitamin C. In vitro, PD-Feverfew restored cigarette smoke-mediated depletion of cellular thiols, attenuated the formation of UV-induced hydrogen peroxide and reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine release. In vivo, topical PD-Feverfew reduced UV-induced epidermal hyperplasia, DNA damage and apoptosis. In a clinical study PD-Feverfew treatment significantly reduced erythema versus placebo 24 h post-UV exposure. Through the ability to scavenge free radicals, preserve endogenous antioxidant levels, reduce DNA damage and induce DNA repair enzymes, which can help repair damaged DNA, parthenolide-depleted extract of Feverfew may protect skin from the numerous external aggressions encountered daily by the skin and reduce the damage to oxidatively challenged skin.

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Abbreviations

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

UVA:

Ultraviolet A

UVB:

Ultraviolet B

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge Devon Grote, Dara Miller and Judy Pinto for their technical contributions, and Claude Saliou for the helpful discussions on antioxidants. We would like to thank Dr. Lynne B. Harrison for guidance and discussion on the clinical erythema studies.

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This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Johnson & Johnson Skin Research Center, CPPW, a unit of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc., Skillman, NJ, USA

    Katharine Martin, Runa Sur, Frank Liebel, Neena Tierney, Peter Lyte, Michelle Garay, Mike Anthonavage, Stan Shapiro & Michael Southall

  2. Johnson & Johnson Skin Research Center, CPPW, a unit of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc., Val de Reuil, France

    Thierry Oddos

  3. Johnson & Johnson Consumer and Personal Products Worldwide, 199 Grandview Road, Skillman, NJ, 08558, USA

    Michael Southall

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  1. Katharine Martin
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Correspondence to Michael Southall.

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Martin, K., Sur, R., Liebel, F. et al. Parthenolide-depleted Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) protects skin from UV irradiation and external aggression. Arch Dermatol Res 300, 69–80 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-007-0818-x

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