How a ginger compound fights sun damage
Zerumbone Exhibits Antiphotoaging and Dermatoprotective Properties in Ultraviolet A-Irradiated Human Skin Fibroblast Cells via the Activation of Nrf2/ARE Defensive Pathway
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Zerumbone increases basal ROS levels to trigger protection
Everyone thinks antioxidants reduce all ROS—but here, a tiny increase in ROS is necessary to activate the body’s defense system, challenging the 'ROS = always bad' myth.
Practical Takeaways
Look for skincare products containing zerumbone or Zingiber zerumbet extract—though concentrations may be too low to match the study’s 8 μM dose.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Zerumbone increases basal ROS levels to trigger protection
Everyone thinks antioxidants reduce all ROS—but here, a tiny increase in ROS is necessary to activate the body’s defense system, challenging the 'ROS = always bad' myth.
Practical Takeaways
Look for skincare products containing zerumbone or Zingiber zerumbet extract—though concentrations may be too low to match the study’s 8 μM dose.
Publication
Journal
Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity
Year
2019
Authors
Y. Hseu, Chih-Ting Chang, Y. Gowrisankar, Xuan Chen, Hui-Chang Lin, Hung-Rong Yen, Hsin-Ling Yang
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Claims (10)
When skin cells are damaged by UVA light, they start acting old—zerumbone helps them stay young by reducing this 'aging marker' by more than half.
Zerumbone helps skin cells in a dish clean up harmful molecules (ROS) that are made when they’re exposed to UVA light—more zerumbone means less damage.
Zerumbone turns on two important antioxidant genes (HO-1 and γ-GCLC) in skin cells, helping them fight off damage—HO-1 stays turned on for a full day.
When scientists turned off the Nrf2 gene, zerumbone lost its ability to protect skin cells from UVA damage—proving Nrf2 is necessary for its effect.
Zerumbone turns up the volume on a genetic switch (ARE) that controls antioxidant genes—more zerumbone means louder activation.