In some surveys, sun spots and other hyperpigmentation are the number one concern about facial aging. Consequently, sales of various kinds of skin lighteners are strong. Now there is news of the development of peptide skin lighteners.

Most skin lighteners work by a similar mechanism. They reduce the activity of an enzyme that is involved in the formation of melanin. For most lighteners this enzyme is tyrosinase. A common form of albinism is a mutation in tyrosinase.

Examples of skin lighteners that work by inhibiting tyrosinase are hydroquinone and arbutin. Both are effective at lightening pigmented areas. Creams containing hydroquinone are the most commonly prescription for pigmentation problems such as melasma and acne scars. However, they are not effective for everybody, can be irritating and in a few people can cause darkening of the skin due to inflammation.

Recently a number of peptides have been developed that also inhibit tyrosinase.

A peptide is a short string of amino acids, sometimes called an oligopeptide. A longer string of amino acids is a protein. Strings of amino acids, of any length, are also called polypeptides. (Don’t ask me why it is so complicated.)

Peptide length can be shown by using the greek numbers so a decapeptide has ten amino acids. An example of a decapeptide is Lumixyl which is a tyrosinase inhibitor.

It has been reported that Lumixyl is as effective as hydroquinone in reducing pigmentation but is not as irritating. It is also suggested that Lumixyl is less likely to increase pigmentation in darker skin than more irritating skin lighteners. Plus it can be used with other treatments including other skin lighteners, chemical peels and lasers. Currently Lumixyl is only available at spas and dermatologists offices.

Two other new peptides, currently called P3 and P4, have been shown to be effective in inhibiting tyrosinase. These peptides are an octopeptide (RADSRADC) and a decapeptide (YRSRKYSSWY).

These two peptides were shown to be strong inhibitors of tyrosinases without the toxic effects that hydroquinone can have. These peptides seem to act on tyrosinases in different ways, so combined they may be very effective.

If the results with Lumixyl, P3 and P4 continue to show that they are effective at reducing hyperpigmentation and are less irritating than hydroquinone and some of the other skin lighteners, it is likely that they will replace hydroquinone as the major skin lighteners.

When the these new lighteners become generally available this will give more choice, and increase the chance that everybody can find a lightener that works for them. Plus there are the added benefits of less irritation, and the risk of the treatment actually increasing hyperpigmentation.

photo credit: Amanda_Joelle

[tags]peptide, polypeptide, Lumixyl, tyrosinase, melasma, hyperpigmentation, hydroquinone, skin lighteners, peptide skin lightener[/tags]