摘要：The aim of this study was to investigate the in vitro inhibitory effects of macelignan isolated from Myristica fragrans H OUTT. on melanogenesis and its related enzymes such as tyrosinase, tyrosinase-related protein-1 (TRP-1), and tyrosinase-related protein-2 (TRP-2) in melan-a murine melanocytes. The IC50 values of macelignan for melanogenesis and tyrosinase were 13 μ M and 30 μ M , respectively, while those of arbutin as a positive control were 990 μ M and 660 μ M , respectively. In Western blot analysis, macelignan also significantly decreased tyrosinase, TRP-1, and TRP-2 protein expression. These results indicate that macelignan effectively inhibits melanin biosynthesis and thus could be employed as a new skin-whitening agent.
