Biotransformed soybean cream as a new nutraceutical for skin care: collagen stimulation in vitro and ex vivo

ABSTRACT

Treatments that attenuate the effects of hypoestrogenism in menopausal women have been gaining visibility. This study investigated the skin response to a phytoestrogen-enriched cosmetic formulation created by incorporating a biotransformed soybean extract (BE) into a cream-like matrix. Collagen-I expression was analyzed both in vitro (fibroblast cells) and ex vivo (skin explants). The results revealed an increased amount of collagen-I both in fibroblasts and human skin when treated with BE and BE-incorporated cream. Also, this collagen-I overexpression was inhibited by PHTPP, indicating a dependence on estrogen hormone receptor beta (ERβ) signaling. Moreover, BE was not harmful to skin microbiota, showing a promising nutricosmetic potential. Thus, this work presented a fully functional cream-like formulation that was shown to be safe and effectively increase collagen-I levels both in vitro and ex vivo.