{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,25]],"date-time":"2026-01-25T04:40:53Z","timestamp":1769316053823,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,11]],"date-time":"2021-08-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1628640000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cells"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Sanqi, a traditional Chinese herb, is widely used for cardiovascular diseases, and its neuroprotective effects against oxidative stress were recently discovered. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether Sanqi-derived compound K (Sanqi-CK), an active metabolite of Sanqi, could protect melanocytes from oxidative stress. Cultured human primary skin epidermal melanocytes (HEMn-MPs) were treated with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in the presence or absence of Sanqi-CK. Sanqi-CK exhibited protective effects against H2O2-induced cell death by reducing oxidative stress. In addition, treatment with Sanqi-CK reversed the decreased glutathione reductase activity and decreased ratio of reduced glutathione (GSH)\/oxidized glutathione (GSSG) seen in H2O2-treated melanocytes. Furthermore, topical application of Sanqi-CK alleviated leukoderma in guinea pigs, a disorder characterized by melanocyte cell death resulting from rhododendrol-induced oxidative stress. Taken together, these data suggest that Sanqi-CK protects melanocytes against oxidative stress, and its protective effects are associated with modulating the redox balance between GSH and GSSG and activating glutathione reductase. Thus, Sanqi-CK may be a good candidate for preventing melanocyte loss in oxidative-stress-associated pigmentary disorders.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cells10082057","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,11]],"date-time":"2021-08-11T08:35:52Z","timestamp":1628670952000},"page":"2057","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Herb Sanqi-Derived Compound K Alleviates Oxidative Stress in Cultured Human Melanocytes and Improves Oxidative-Stress-Related Leukoderma in Guinea Pigs"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Suwei","family":"Tang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pigmentation Research and Therapeutics, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka City University, Osaka 5450051, Japan"},{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200443, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1578-6221","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lingli","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pigmentation Research and Therapeutics, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka City University, Osaka 5450051, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0796-4331","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yasutaka","family":"Kuroda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pigmentation Research and Therapeutics, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka City University, Osaka 5450051, Japan"},{"name":"Biological Science Laboratories, Kao Corporation, Kanagawa 2500002, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sylvia","family":"Lai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pigmentation Research and Therapeutics, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka City University, Osaka 5450051, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shaoqiong","family":"Xie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200443, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Huimin","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200021, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ichiro","family":"Katayama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pigmentation Research and Therapeutics, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka City University, Osaka 5450051, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"197","DOI":"10.1038\/jid.1959.37","article-title":"The melanocyte: Cytology and cytochemistry","volume":"32","author":"Fitzpatrick","year":"1959","journal-title":"J. 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