Efficacy and safety of a facial serum containing snail secretion filtrate, Calendula officinalis, and Glycyrrhiza glaba root extract in the treatment of maskne: A randomized placebo-controlled study.

INTRODUCTION: During the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, face mask use has increased and became a part of our daily lives. While wearing, prolonged contact time and microenvironmental change profoundly lead to an acne flare-up, defined as "maskne." AIMS: We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of snail secretion filtrate, Calendula officinalis, and Glycyrrhiza glaba root extract combination serum (SCGS) in treating the maskne. METHODS: This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial study. This study enrolled 66 participants with mild-to-moderate maskne. The SCGS and placebo were randomly assigned for participants to use twice daily for 12 weeks. Percentage change of acne lesion count, acne severity by Investigator Global Evaluation Acne (IGEA), sebum levels, corneometry levels, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), erythema score by Visia®, and adverse events were evaluated 4-weekly at baseline to Week 12. At Week 12, all participants evaluated their satisfaction scores using a 10-point visual analog scale (VAS). RESULTS: In the mask-covered area, the percent reduction in inflammatory acne lesions from the treatment group was significantly greater than the placebo group at all time points (coefficient of percentage change of inflammatory lesions = -33.89 [95% CI -65.24, -2.53]; p = 0.03). Also, a subgroup analysis with participants using concurrent acne treatments revealed similar results (12 participants, coefficient = -50.30 [95% -88.65, -11.95]; p = 0.01). However, there were no significant differences in non-inflammatory lesions, all skin biophysics, and VAS between groups. Adverse events were mild and occurred in a few cases in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The SCGS could significantly improve inflammatory acne lesions and had a favorable tolerability profile, suggesting its role as an adjunctive treatment in maskne.

In-Silico approach for identification of effective and stable inhibitors for COVID-19 main protease (Mpro) from flavonoid based phytochemical constituents of Calendula officinalis.

The recent outbreak of the coronavirus disease COVID-19 is putting the world towards a great threat. A recent study revealed COVID-19 main protease (Mpro) is responsible for the proteolytic mutation of this virus and is essential for its life cycle. Thus inhibition of this protease will eventually lead to the destruction of this virus. In-Silico Molecular docking was performed with the Native ligand and the 15 flavonoid based phytochemicals of Calendula officinals to check their binding affinity towards the COVID-19 main protease. Finally, the top 3 compounds with the highest affinity have been chosen for molecular dynamics simulation to analyses their dynamic properties and conformational flexibility or stability. In-Silico Docking showed that major phytochemicals of Calendula officinals i.e. rutin, isorhamnetin-3-O-ß-D, calendoflaside, narcissin, calendulaglycoside B, calenduloside, calendoflavoside have better binding energy than the native ligand (inhibitor N3). MD simulation of 100 ns revealed that all the protease-ligand docked complexes are overall stable as compare to Mpro-native ligand (inhibitor N3) complex. Overall, rutin and caledoflaside showed better stability, compactness, and flexibility. Our in silico (Virtual molecular docking and Molecular dynamics simulation) studies pointed out that flavonoid based phytochemicals of calendula (rutin, isorhamnetin-3-O-ß-D, calendoflaside) may be highly effective for inhibiting Mpro which is the main protease for SARS-CoV-2 causing the deadly disease COVID-19. Rutin is already used as a drug and the other two compounds can be made available for future use. Thus the study points a way to combat COVID-19 by the use of major flavonoid based phytochemicals of Calendula officinals. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.