Drug – bio-affecting and body treating compositions – Designated organic active ingredient containing – Having -c- – wherein x is chalcogen – bonded directly to...
Patent
1994-07-27
1996-09-24
Rollins, John W.
Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions
Designated organic active ingredient containing
Having -c-, wherein x is chalcogen, bonded directly to...
4241951, 424 62, A61K 3134, A61K 3578
Patent
active
055591469
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to new cosmetic compositions which allow the regulation of cutaneous pigmentation.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Irregularities in the pigmentation of the skin have always been considered unsightly, and for some considerable time various means have been proposed to remedy this.
These defects appear most often in the form of hyperpigmentation blemishes, which may take diverse forms: freckles, chloasma of hormonal origin, senile lentigo located mainly on the hands, hyperpigmentation related to scars or resulting from a photosensitizing agent, and the like.
A most diverse range of approaches has been proposed for removing these blemishes, and whitening the skin, imparting a uniform coloration thereto. The use of numerous substances of animal or mineral origin, as well as of a large variety of plants and substances of vegetable origin, has been recommended for this purpose. The publication of SCARPA and GUERCI [Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 19 17-66 (1987)] reveals the diversity of the preparations proposed.
However, a very small number of the formulations thus proposed have shown any real proof of their effectiveness. At the present time, very few substances are known which have a real depigmenting effect, and among these substances the majority exhibit annoying, or even harmful, side effects.
For example, certain preparations based on mercury salts, although endowed with a real power for lightening the skin, present real danger, because the transcutaneously absorbed mercury may cause serious poisoning.
The majority of the depigmenting preparations currently available commercially contain hydroquinone as the active ingredient. These preparations are, however, not without disadvantages. They are in fact very difficult to handle: their application must effectively be strictly limited to the regions to be depigmented, and the amount used must be carefully dosed. These disadvantages are particularly important for subjects of dark skin, for whom there is a risk of new blemishes appearing resulting from a non-uniform depigmentation. In addition, hydroquinone is poorly tolerated by many people, in whom it provokes skin irritations.
Among the innumerable active principles of vegetable origin, or extracted from plants, to which a depigmenting action has been attributed, only one is effectively used in cosmetology: this is an extract of the common yarrow, whose activity is thought to arise from the presence of luteolin and its heterosides.
The Inventor has undertaken research with the aim of discovering other substances which regulate pigmentation without, however, exhibiting the disadvantages of the substances currently used.
It is in fact desirable to have available substances which remove pigmentation blemishes without, however, provoking a general whitening of the skin or else an excessive depigmentation of the regions treated. It is in addition necessary for these active principles to be well tolerated and, in particular, not to provoke irritation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Now, the Inventor found that extracts obtained from the plant Eclipta alba possessed depigmenting properties, without provoking the side effects mentioned above. By fractionating the extracts obtained, the Inventor additionally found that these properties were associated with the fraction of the plant which is rich in flavonoids, and that preparations containing wedelolactone or demethylwedelolactone, which are the main flavonoids of Eclipta alba, also possessed depigmenting properties.
Eclipta alba is a plant which belongs to the family Compositae, and which is frequently encountered in tropical regions (India, Africa, West Indies, Guyana). This plant has been the subject of diverse studies which have resulted in the discovery of various active principles. Thus BHARGAVA et al. [Indian Journal of Chemistry, 10 810-811 (1972)] extracted 3 isoflavonoids from the leaves: wedelolactone, demethylwedelolactone and its glucoside. QUISUMBING [Medicinal Plants of the Philippines: Technical Bulletin--Depar
REFERENCES:
Chem. Abst. 106:27529y, 1987.
Chem. Abst. 106:125872z, 1987.
Chem. Abst. 78:97958q, 1973.
Chem. Abst. 74:9684m, 1971.
Chem. Abst. 74:1021x, 1971.
STN Database Server, Karlsrue, Germany, Fichier Chemical Abstracts, vol. 113, No. 12, (Columbus, OH, U.S.) see abstract No. 103209f and CN,A, 1031022 (Tianjin Institute of Light Industrial Chemistry) Feb. 15, 1989, see abstract.
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