Drug – bio-affecting and body treating compositions – Enzyme or coenzyme containing – Hydrolases
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-11
2002-04-23
Tate, Christopher R. (Department: 1651)
Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions
Enzyme or coenzyme containing
Hydrolases
C424S070100, C424S074000, C424S094210, C424S094640, C424S094660, C424S725000, C424S750000, C424S769000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06375948
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a treating method and a dermatologic composition for external use, each for suppressing hair growth.
BACKGROUND ART
Although the body hair serves to biologically protect important organs such as head, chest, hands and feet, the organ-protecting function of the hair is losing its importance with the appearance and development of protecting mean such as clothes and protectors.
The hair was so far desired to be abundant. In recent years, however, the hair, particularly, that of hands and feet tends to be undesired from the aesthetic viewpoint. To meet such a tendency, various body hair removing methods have been developed and utilized. Specific examples include a mechanical removing method using a shaver, hair-tweezers or the like and, a method of rooting up the hair by using a depilatory and a method making use of the chemical action of a hair removing agent (EP-622069A1, W097/44005).
These hair removing methods however give a physical or chemical stimulus to the skin. In addition, their effects do not last permanently, though there is a little difference in durability among the methods, which needs the hair removing treatment again after the passage of a predetermined time. There is accordingly a demand for reducing the frequency of the hair removing treatment.
An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a treating method for hair growth inhibition which method is capable of effectively suppressing the growth of the body hair, thereby decreasing the removing frequency of the body hair.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The present inventors have carried out an extensive investigation. As a result, it has been found that a specific plant extract has excellent hair growth inhibitory effects and a dermatologic composition for external use which comprises it is useful as a hair growth inhibitor.
In one aspect of the present invention, there is thus provided a treating method for hair growth inhibition, which comprises administering an extract of the plant belonging to the family of Juniperus or a malt extract.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a dermatologic composition for external use, which comprises (A) an extract of the plant belonging to the family of Juniperus or a malt extract, (B) an elastase inhibitor or neutral endopeptidase inhibitor.
In a further aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a dermatologic composition for external use, which comprises (A) an extract of the plant belonging to the family of Juniperus or a malt extract, (B) an elastase inhibitor or neutral endopeptidase inhibitor, and (C) at least one proteolytic enzyme selected from the group consisting of papain, trypsin, chymotrypsin, pepsin, bromelain, ficin and pancreatin.
In a still further aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a dermatologic composition for external use, which comprises (B) an elastase inhibitor or neutral endopeptidase inhibitor, and (C) at least one proteolytic enzyme selected from the group consisting of papain, trypsin, chymotrypsin, pepsin, bromelain, ficin and pancreatin.
In a still further aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a treating method for hair growth inhibition, which comprises administering a composition containing the above-described components (A) and (B), a composition containing the above-descried components (A), (B) and (C), or a composition containing the above-described components (B) and (C).
BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Examples of the plant belonging to the family of Juniperus and usable in the present invention include
Juniperus communis, Juniperus virginiana
L.,
Juniperus morrisonicola
Hayata and
Juniperus formosana
Hayata. Of these,
Juniperus communis
and
Juniperus virginiana
L. are particularly preferred. These plants of the family of Juniperus are preferably extracted at the leave or fruit portion thereof.
As a malt, that of wheat, barley, rye or oats is used.
The term “extract of a plant” as used herein means a solvent extract available by extracting the above-described portion of the plant in a solvent or through an extracting device such as Soxhlet extractor, or its dilute solution, concentrate or dry powder.
Examples of the solvent used for extraction include water, alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, propanol and butanol, polyhydric alcohols such as polypropylene glycol and butylene glycol, ketones such as acetone and methyl ethyl ketone, esters such as methyl acetate and ethyl acetate, linear or cyclic ethers such as tetrahydrofuran and diethyl ether, halogenated hydrocarbons such as dichloromethane, chloroform and carbon tetrachloride, hydrocarbons such as hexane, cyclohexane and petroleum ether, aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene and toluene, polyethers such as polyethylene glycol, and pyridines. They may be used either singly or in combination.
From the above-described extract, inactive impurities can be removed by a technique such as liquid-liquid partition or solvent-adding precipitation. In the present invention, it is preferred to use such a purified extract. If necessary, the extract may be used after deodorization or decoloring in a known manner.
Although there is no particular limitation imposed on the form of the hair growth suppressing composition of the present invention, it is preferred to formulate it as a hair-removing, depilatory or shaving cosmetic composition. Specific examples of such a cosmetic composition include hair removers in the form of a paste, cream or aerosol, depilatories in the form of a wax, jelly or sheet, agents in the form of a lotion or cream used for treatment after hair removal or depilation, pre-shaving agents such as pre-shaving lotion, shaving agents such as shaving cream, and after-shaving agents such as after-shaving lotion.
The above-described effective component is preferably contained in the hair growth inhibiting composition of the present invention in an amount of 0.00001 to 50 wt. %, particularly 0.0001 to 10 wt. %, as a dry solids content, from the viewpoints of the hair growth inhibitory effects and economy.
In the present invention, it is possible to use, together with the component (A), an elastase inhibitor and/or neutral endopeptidase inhibitor (B) and by using them in combination, the resulting dermatologic composition for external use has more improved hair growth inhibitory effects.
The “elastase” as used herein means one of proteolytic enzymes which are presumed to play an important role for metabolism in the tissues of the living body. It is known that the neutrophilic elastase closely relates to the protection from infection or decomposition and regeneration of the damaged tissue, while the dermal-fibroblast-derived elastase takes part in the aging of the skin. The term “elastase inhibitor” as used herein embraces respective substances having inhibitory activity against these elastases. Particularly preferred are substances inhibiting dermal-fibroblast-derived elastase, for example, those exhibiting inhibitory activity of at least 50% in the concentration of 1 mM in an enzyme activity measuring system which contains an enzyme solution extracted from cultured human fibroblast with 0.1% Triton X-100/0.2M tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.0) and, as a substrate, N-succinyl-Ala-Ala-Ala-p-nitroanilide.
Examples of such an elastase inhibitor include (1) phosphonic acid derivatives as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 10-324611, (2) mercaptopropionic amide derivatives as described in Japanese Patent Application-Laid-Open No. HEI 10-265360, and (3) plants selected from ginger rhizome, hydrolyzed almond, birch, clove, rose hip, hawthorn, white birch and gambir or extracts, steam distillates or pressed products thereof.
The above-described phosphonic acid derivatives mean the phosphonic acid derivatives represented by the following formula (1):
(wherein, R
1
represents a hydrogen atom, a hydroxyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group or a substituted or unsubstituted saccharide residue, R
2
represe
Moriwaki Shigeru
Ohuchi Atsushi
Suzuki Yasuto
Tsuji Naoko
Flood Michele C.
Kao Corporation
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
Tate Christopher R.
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