著者
Naoko Takeo Masashi Nakamura Satoshi Nakayama Osamu Okamoto Naoki Sugimoto Shinichi Sugiura Nayu Sato Susumu Harada Masao Yamaguchi Naoya Mitsui Yumiko Kubota Kayoko Suzuki Makoto Terada Akiyo Nagai Junko Sowa-Osako Yutaka Hatano Hiroshi Akiyama Akiko Yagami Sakuhei Fujiwara Kayoko Matsunaga
出版者
Japanese Society of Allergology
雑誌
Allergology International (ISSN:13238930)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.67, no.4, pp.496-505, 2018 (Released:2018-10-18)
参考文献数
48
被引用文献数
33

Background: Cochineal dye is used worldwide as a red coloring in foods, drinks, cosmetics, quasi-drugs, and drugs. The main component of the red color is carminic acid (CA). Carmine is an aluminum- or calcium-chelated product of CA. CA and carmine usually contain contaminating proteins, including a 38-kDa protein thought to be the primary allergen. Severe allergic reactions manifest as anaphylaxis. The aim of this study was to review all Japanese reported cases and propose useful diagnostic chart.Methods: All reported Japanese cases of cochineal dye-induced immediate allergy were reviewed, and newly registered cases were examined by skin prick test (SPT) with cochineal extract (CE) and measurement of CE and carmine-specific serum IgE test. Two-dimensional (2D) western blotting using patient serum was conducted to identify the antigen.Results: Twenty-two Japanese cases have been reported. SPT and the level of specific IgE test indicated that six cases should be newly registered as cochineal dye allergy. All cases were adult females, and all cases except three involved anaphylaxis; 13 cases involved past history of local symptoms associated with cosmetics use. Japanese strawberry juice and fish-meat sausage, and European processed foods (especially macarons made in France) and drinks were recent major sources of allergen. 2D western blotting showed that patient IgE reacted to the 38-kDa protein and other proteins. Serum from healthy controls also weakly reacted with these proteins.Conclusions: SPT with CE and determination of the level of CE and carmine-specific IgE test are useful methods for the diagnosis of cochineal dye allergy.
著者
Yu Inoue Seiji Hasegawa Takaaki Yamada Yasushi Date Hiroshi Mizutani Satoru Nakata Kayoko Matsunaga Hirohiko Akamatsu
出版者
The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan
雑誌
Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin (ISSN:09186158)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.36, no.11, pp.1722-1730, 2013-11-01 (Released:2013-11-01)
参考文献数
27
被引用文献数
17 32

Hydroquinone (HQ) is a chemical compound that inhibits the functions of melanocytes and has long been known for its skin-whitening effect. According to previous studies, the Tyrosinase (Tyr) activity inhibitory effect and melanocyte-specific cell toxicity are known depigmenting mechanisms; however, details of the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Arbutin (Arb) is also known for its Tyr activity inhibitory effect and is commonly used as a skin-whitening agent. However, the detailed depigmenting mechanism of Arb is also not yet fully understood. Few studies have attempted to elucidate the effects of HQ and Arb on undifferentiated melanocytes. In this study, we examined the effects of HQ and Arb throughout each stage of differentiation of melanocytes using a mouse embryonic stem cell (ESC) culture system to induce melanocytes. The results showed that HQ in particular downregulated the early stage of differentiation, in which neural crest cells were generated, and the late stage of differentiation, in which melanogenesis became active. On the other hand, Arb had no effect on the differentiation of melanocytes, and only suppressed melanogenesis by specifically suppressing elevations in Tyr expression in the late stage of differentiation.