Drug – bio-affecting and body treating compositions – Designated organic active ingredient containing – Having -c- – wherein x is chalcogen – bonded directly to...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-12
2002-07-09
Jarvis, William R. A. (Department: 1614)
Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions
Designated organic active ingredient containing
Having -c-, wherein x is chalcogen, bonded directly to...
C424S063000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06417226
ABSTRACT:
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
Not Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the use of hydroxytetronic acid and/or hydroxytetronic acid derivatives alone, or in combination with other ingredients such as hydroquinone, glycolic acid, and/or ascorbyl palmitate, in compositions that whiten skin, and methods for using the compositions.
2. Description of Related Art
A variety of dermatological compositions have been suggested for skin whitening to improve the appearance of hyperpigmentary skin conditions such as that observed as freckles, melasma, café au lait and liver spots spots, and lesions observed in Addison's disease, hemochromatosis, vitiligo, piebaldism, phenylketonuria, and the like, and/or for cosmetic purposes. Skin color is primarily determined by the amount of melanin present in epidermal cells, so many modern skin bleaching compositions either destroy melanin (typically by destroying or disrupting melanin granules) or inhibit its formation (often by inhibiting tyrosinase, a melanin biosynthetic enzyme, or melanocyte activity), or both. Many of these contain harsh chemicals such as peroxides, acids or formaldehyde, or thiolated materials such as glutathione, cysteine, mercaptosuccinic acid, mercaptodextran, and mercaptoethanol, which have an objectionable odor that makes products containing them undesirable to a consumer (discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,904 to Leverett and Dornoff, U.S. Pat. No. 5,747,006 to Dornoff, et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,077,503 to Dornoff; these and subsequent references are hereby incorporated herein in their entireties by reference).
Less stringent therapies have other disadvantages. The only treatment for hyperpigmentation that is approved in the United States for use by consumers without a prescription, for example, is the topical application of hydroquinone, which acts by suppressing melanocyte activity. Hydroquinone is oxidized by air, light, and tyrosinase itself, however, which adversely effects the shelf life of preparations containing it and its bioavailability upon application. Hydroquinone can cause burning, redness, sensitization and irritation in some persons, particularly after application of quantities sufficient to cause skin bleaching as it requires prolonged treatment before results are noticeable, and its oxidized products have been implicated in skin irritation and pigmentation rebound (U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,834 to Kvalnes, et al.). Topical retinoids and topical corticosteroids have been suggested as hypopigmenting agents, as have laser treatment and chemical peels, but these fall short of desirable responses. A new combination therapy recently suggested combines tretinoin and fluocinolone with hydroquinone (Willis, I.,
Skin & Aging Supp
., Nov. 17-21, 2000). Kojic acid and arbutin have also been suggested, but these are marginal tyrosinase inhibitors and are not very bioavailable and thus have disappointing efficacy.
Other pleasanter compositions recently suggested employ natural materials, which have in some cases been used for centuries in Asia or Europe to bleach skin and skin areas, or enhance the appearance of fair skin. These include the use of lemon, orange, cucumber, ginko, carob, rose fruit, geraniuim herb, cinnamon, sweet marjoram, rosemary, clove, mulberry, licorice, bearberry, and acerola cherry extracts (ibid.). The variability of active ingredients in these natural products sometimes limits their usefulness, particularly as skin type, color, age, and condition of vary greatly in different subjects, and make suggested dosages and regimens difficult to fashion. And other ingredients in the mixtures can cause allergic reactions in sensitive persons.
It would be desirable to have alternative preparations, and/or ones that improve the efficacy of presently known skin whitening agents.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an objective of the invention to provide new compositions for whitening skin and methods for their use. It is a further objective to provide compositions that can be used to enhance known skin whitening compositions and treatments.
These objectives are achieved by the present invention, which provides methods and compositions for whitening skin through the topical application of &agr;-hydroxytetronic acid and/or a-hydroxytetronic derivatives, in a preparation that typically includes a dermatologically acceptable carrier. In many embodiments, the &agr;-hydroxytetronic active ingredient is applied to skin in combination with at least one adjunct ingredient such as hydroquinone, an &agr;-hydroxy acid such as glycolic acid, and a fatty acid ester of ascorbic acid such as ascorbyl palmitate. Some preferred embodiments contain from about 0.5% to about 25% by weight &agr;-hydroxytetronic acid and/or hydroxytetronic acid derivatives alone, or in combination with hydroquinone, glycolic acid and/or ascorbyl palmitate.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3620744 (1971-11-01), Schellenberg
patent: 5091171 (1992-02-01), Yu et al.
patent: 5262153 (1993-11-01), Mishima et al.
patent: 5385938 (1995-01-01), Yu et al.
patent: 5602259 (1997-02-01), Boo et al.
patent: 5643961 (1997-07-01), Yu et al.
patent: 5654336 (1997-08-01), Yu et al.
patent: 5747006 (1998-05-01), Dornoff et al.
patent: 5932612 (1999-08-01), Gordon et al.
patent: 5980904 (1999-11-01), Leverett et al.
patent: 6010685 (2000-01-01), Ziemniak et al.
patent: 6057360 (2000-05-01), Gordon et al.
patent: 6068834 (2000-05-01), Kvalnes et al.
patent: 6077503 (2000-06-01), Dornoff
patent: 6139854 (2000-10-01), Kawato
patent: 6265436 (2001-07-01), Appere et al.
Willis, I., Skin & Aging Supp., Nov. 2000, 17-21.
Morganti et al., An innovative cesmeceutical . . . , Database CAPLUS, AN2000:373138, abstract, J. Appl. Cosmetol., 1999, vol. 17(4), pp. 144-153.*
Weyde, Bleaching of photographs . . . Database Caplus, AN1958:102874, abstract of Patent, DE946327, 1956.*
Okada et al, Photographic processing using a novel . . . , Database USPATFUL, AN 96:75265, abstract of Patent U.S. 5547817, 1996.*
Roomi et al., Growth suppression of malignant leukenia cell line . . . , Database Caplus, AN 1997:747923, abstract, Cancer Lett. 1998, vol. 122/1,2, pp. 93-99.
Jarvis William R. A.
Kim Vickie
Krinsky Mary M.
LandOfFree
Skin whiteners containing hydroxytetronic acid does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Skin whiteners containing hydroxytetronic acid, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Skin whiteners containing hydroxytetronic acid will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2914471