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Introduction: Constantly increasing air pollution (AP) poses a concern negatively affecting our health including the skin. A typical manifestation of the skin damage induced by AP is its premature aging, irritation, skin barrier impairment, pigmentation disorders and development or exacerbation of various skin diseases. For these reasons, it is crucial to protect the skin from the negative effects of AP. In this study we evaluated the ability of some compounds commonly used in dermatological or cosmetic preparations with various biological activities to reduce AP-induced skin damage. Methods: We established a new experimental model using porcine skin explants exposed to cigarette smoke (CS) where we determined the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the stratum corneum, skin barrier lipids peroxidation and gene expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 in the epidermis. We then tested several polysaccharides and their derivatives such as sodium hyaluronate (SH) of different molecular weights (MW, 1,6 MDa, 300 kDa, 15 kDa, 5 kDa), yeast glucomannan, schizophyllan and carboxymethyl β-glucan, a vitamin C derivative sodium ascorbyl phosphate, niacinamide and D-panthenol for their ability to prevent CS-induced skin damage. For the evaluation and comparison of their mechanism of action, film-forming effect was determined by TEWL and gloss measurements and the antioxidant properties were assessed by DPPH assay. Results: In the skin samples exposed to CS we observed significant negative changes such as the presence of large amount of ROS in the stratum corneum, a high level of skin barrier lipids peroxidation and upregulated IL6 gene expression. Pretreatment of the skin samples with all the tested substances significantly prevented CS-induced skin damage. The most effective was high MW SH probably due to its best film-forming effect and sodium ascorbyl phosphate with the best antioxidant properties. Conclusion: AP leads to a significant skin damage which can be effectively prevented by using some conventional cosmetic and dermatological ingredients with various mechanisms of action.

S. Karger AG, Basel