Effect of Novel Compounds from Thymelaea Hirsuta on Melanogenesis
In our attempt to find antimelanogenesis agents from natural sources, we determined the effect of novel compounds from Thymelaea hirsuta on melanogenesis in B16 murine melanoma cells. Cytotoxicity assay was carried out using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium
bromide (MTT) assay, after which melanin content was quantified. Results of MTT assay, using 0.1 μM up to 2 μM of the compounds,
showed that the compounds are not cytotoxic. The compounds, at 0.1 μM concentration, significantly reduced the melanin content.
The effect of treatment with the novel compounds generated the same effect as treatment with 100 μM arbutin a known depigmenting
agent. The mechanism of melanogenesis inhibition will be looked at in our future experiments.