Drug – bio-affecting and body treating compositions – Preparations characterized by special physical form – Cosmetic – antiperspirant – dentifrice
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-11
2004-01-13
Page, Thurman K. (Department: 1615)
Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions
Preparations characterized by special physical form
Cosmetic, antiperspirant, dentifrice
C424S059000, C424S061000, C424S069000, C424S707000, C424S419000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06676952
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to novel uses of an okume resin extract, in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical fields, and in particular in the dermatological field.
More precisely, the invention relates to uses as a cosmetic agent of an okume resin extract, more particularly for care of the skin, the nails, and the hair.
The invention also relates to certain uses in the field of pharmacy.
“Okume” and “Gaboon mahogany” are common names corresponding to the plant
Aucoumea klaineana
which is the only species of the genus Aucoumea of the family Burseraceae.
The okume is a tall tree of the equatorial rain forests of West and Central Africa. It is used for its wood and constitutes the majority of the wood exported by Gabon.
Its young branches are covered in rust-red down. Its leaves are alternate, imparipinnate, and with elongate oval leaflets, and they are glabrous and shiny. Young leaves are a bright red color; they appear starting in October to December-January, giving the tree tops a reddish color, which makes it possible to identify okume populations from the air.
The inflorescences are in 10 cm to 20 cm long panicles, with whitish flowers that are practically odorless. Flowering takes place in October-November.
The fruit are capsular and glabrous; they open into five leathery lobes. The seeds are triangular, and extended by a blade-shaped wing. Fruiting is towards the month of February.
The color of the bark varies from purplish red to salmon pink depending on the age of the plant. The bark is lightly fibrous, almost granulous, and when cut it oozes out a resin or oleoresin that smells strongly of turpentine and that becomes opaque on coagulating.
The resin essentially contains monoterpenes and triterpenes with a backbone of olenane and tirucallane.
Traditional uses are known for this resin: originally okume resin was used in Gabon to make torches used during initiation ceremonies. That use which persists to the present day in villages, is extended in towns during family gatherings. In missionary stations, it is used as a substitute for incense. In folk medicine, it is used to bring abscesses to a head and in the treatment of wounds where it activates healing.
Pharmacologically, the oleoresin has antibacterial power, due in particular to phenols contained in essential oil.
For further details on the uses and properties of okume or its oleoresin, reference can be made to the following publications:
Tessier A. M., Delaveau P., Piffault N., Hoffelt J., Planta Med. 46, 41 (1982);
Delaveau P., Lallouette P., Tessier A. M., Planta Med., 40, 49 (1980);
Delaveau P., Vidal-Tessier A. M., Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr., 135, Actualités bot., 3, 25 (1988).
Systemic testing carried out by the inventors has revealed a certain number of surprising enzymatic actions of this resin, in particular inhibiting action on various enzymes, in particular keratinase, elastase, phospholipase A
2
, and lipoxygenase, which makes it possible to envisage using it in cosmetics, in particular in substances for care of the skin, the nails, and the hair.
Keratinase is an enzyme produced on the body essentially by fungi. It is produced industrially from
Streptomyces fradiae
. Its action on the skin, and on the integuments leads to degradation of keratins, which gives rise in particular to disorganization in the structure of the integuments (white or striped nails, brittle hair, etc.).
Elastase, the enzyme for degrading elastin, is present in cells, in particular in dermal cells (fibroblasts) and also, to a lesser extent, in epidermal cells (keratinocytes). It has been observed that the quantity and the activity of elastase increases during the process of skin aging, whether the aging is intrinsic or actinic. By degrading elastin fibers, the action of elastase causes a loss of cutaneous elasticity, a slackening of the skin, and the appearance of wrinkles.
Phospholipase A
2
(PLA
2
) is an enzyme produced by membrane cells. It predominates in cells associated with inflammatory phenomena, such as mast cells. Its action is to release arachidonic acid bonded to the phospholipids of the membrane. This acid then metabolizes into various lipid mediators of inflammation and allergy, such as leukotrienes and prostaglandins.
5′-lipoxygenase, referred to below as “lipoxygenase” is, like PLA
2
, a membrane enzyme. It is involved in the “inflammation cascade” downstream from the release of arachidonic acid by PLA
2
, in converting the acid into leukotrienes, mediators of inflammation.
The inventors have thus shown that because of their inhibiting action on the above-mentioned enzymes, extracts of okume resin are most advantageous in cosmetics and in therapy.
More particularly, the invention provides compositions for care of the nails, the hair, and the eyelashes, in combatting the effects of skin aging, and in preventing or treating cutaneous inflammations and allergies.
By the discovery that okume resin extracts are active in inhibiting the action of enzymes, the invention provides various solutions in the field of cosmetics and therapy, and in particular in the field of dermatology. By inhibiting keratinase, the compositions of the invention serve to prevent and treat deterioration of keratin structures, in particular in the integuments, the nails, the hair, and eyelashes. By inhibiting elastase, the compositions of the invention oppose degradation of elastin fibers, and as a result such compositions maintain the biomechanical qualities of the skin, and in particular its qualities of elasticity in the dermis, thus combatting slackening of the skin and the appearance of wrinkles. By inhibiting phospholipase A
2
and lipoxygenase, compositions of the invention thus have two actions in limiting or blocking the process of forming cutaneous allergy mediators and inflammation mediators.
In another advantage of the invention, okume resin turns out to be soluble in numerous organic solvents. It is even almost completely soluble in esters such as ethyl acetate and butyl acetate, thus making it all the more advantageous in the manufacture of nail varnish, which generally makes use of these solvents, in particular in the manufacture of treatment nail varnish.
Another advantage of using okume resin extracts in treatments for the nails, in particular in nail varnishes, stems from the fact that these extracts themselves have film-forming characteristics when applied on a surface, in particular the surface of a nail.
These film-forming qualities of okume resin can also be used to advantage in compositions for application to the hair or to the eyelashes, in particular in compositions for hair dressing such as lacquers, gels, or emulsions, or indeed in mascara compositions for improving the coating of eyelashes.
Other advantages of the invention appear from the following description and examples.
Thus, according to one of its essential characteristics, the invention relates to cosmetic compositions containing an okume resin extract in the presence of a cosmetically acceptable vehicle.
The extract is advantageously obtained by macerating the resin in a solvent of medium or weak polarity, followed by filtering the mixture. The solvent of the resulting solution can be evaporated where necessary in order to obtain a dry extract.
A solvent of “medium or weak polarity” means a solvent whose polarity parameter is less than or equal to 6, where this index is defined in Practical high-performance liquid chromatography by Meyer V. R., 1988, pp. 120-121.
Evaporation is preferably performed under low pressure.
Solvents that can be used advantageously include the following:
C
6
to C
12
aliphatic hydrocarbons such as hexane and heptane;
chlorine-containing solvents, in particular dichloromethane;
ethers such as ethyl ether or diisopropyl ether;
acetone;
esters such as ethyl acetate and butyl acetate; and
C
1
to C
4
alcohols, such as methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol.
Okume resin extract can also be obtained by the so-called supercritical carbon dioxide extraction technique.
Extraction yield depends essentially on the age of the tree.
Thus, by using ethyl acetat
Andre Patrice
Renimel Isabelle
Merchant & Gould P.C.
Page Thurman K.
Parfums Christian Dior
Tran S.
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