• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.12 no.8
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• pp.309-315
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• 2021

Pycnogenol extracted from pine bark is a component with great antibacterial activity and antioxidant effect. It is applied as a natural anti-inflammatory agent with various medical effects including anti-inflammatory effects, regulation of blood pressure, regulation of the immune system, and inhibition of cancer cell growth. However, research related to cosmetics is limited. Therefore, in this study, the effect of Pycnogenol on the skin was studied through a clinical approach. Changes in skin condition were observed after using cosmetics with Pycnogenol and without Pycnogenol for 6 weeks for 10 clinicians in each group. We observed the effect of pore reduction, wrinkle reduction around eyes, a decrease of the number and angle of loose pores, and reduction of pigmentation. Therefore, cosmetics containing Pycnogenol have the effect of improving skin problems of aging skin.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.68-72
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• 2008

Antimicrobial stability of grape seed extract ($ActiVin^{TM}$), pine bark extract ($Pycnogenol^{(R)}$), and oleoresin rosemary ($Herbalox^{(R)}$) on the growth of Aeromonas hydrophila was investigated in cooked ground beef. When compared to the control, the populations of A. hydrophila were most effectively reduced by 4.06 log CFU/g for 1% $Pycnogenol^{(R)}$ added after cooking at 10 days of refrigerated storage, followed by 3.06 log CFU/g for 1% $Pycnogenol^{(R)}$ added before cooking and 1.36 log CFU/g for $ActiVin^{TM}$. Bacteriostatic and bactericidal activities were observed for $Pycnogenol^{(R)}$ added before and after cooking, respectively. $Pycnogenol^{(R)}$ consists of heat-labile and heat-stable compounds. $ActiVin^{TM}$ and $Pycnogenol^{(R)}$ could be considered for use as multifunctional preservatives in meat and meat products.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.487-495
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• 2022

Pycnogenol is used as a dietary supplement based on various medical research studies suggesting health benefits. In recent years, it has also been used in cosmetic products, but the clinical research on its dermatologic effects has been insufficient. This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of pycnogenol topically applied to skin of individuals with acne in their teens and twenties. Cosmetics containing 0.2% pycnogenol were applied to a group of 11 clinical subjects for 6 weeks and their skin conditions were assessed. The group that used cosmetics with pycnogenol showed decrease in P-Acnes, acne causing bacteria, phorphyrin index, a metabolite, and the pigmentation and redness index. This study confirms that pycnogenol extract is effective dermatologically in decreasing acne bacteria and reducing redness and pigmentation of skin affected by acne.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.58-70
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• 2002

In an attempt to compare the antioxidation effects of constrain the oxidation and improve the structural stability, retinol and various antioxidants were together encapsulated by liposome. Four water soluble and four oil soluble antioxidants were tested for performance. The influence of tertiary butylhydroquinone(TBHQ), ${\alpha}$-glycosyl rutin(${\alpha}$-G rutin), licorece, pycnogenol as water soluble antioxidants and butylated hydroxytoluene(BHT), ${\alpha}$-lipoic acid, ferulic acid, natural concentrated tooopherol(no-tocopherol) as oil soluble antioxidants on the constraint of oxidation of retinol were investigated. Additional study was conducted to compare the synergic effect of antioxidation for retinol with licorice, pycnogenol, ${\alpha}$-lipoic acid and BHT. All the antioxidant used at the study constrained oxidation of retinol. The effect of antioxidation for retinol increased in order of licorice, pycnogenol, TBHQ, ${\alpha}$-G rutin as water soluble antioxidants and ${\alpha}$-lipoic acid, BHT, no-tocopherol, ferulic acid as oil soluble antioxidants. In conclusion, ${\alpha}$-lipoic acid is more effective retinol antioxidants than BHT. And the combination of ${\alpha}$-lipoic acid and BHT gave best synergic among six combinations.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.422-433
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• 2011

The objective of this study was to evaluate their effects as the meat antioxidant and on the antioxidant enzymes like superoxide dismutase(SOD) and catalase during the refrigeration storage of ground beef, respectively. Ground beef loin was treated by three natural antioxidants(pycnogenol, catechin, ${\alpha}$-tocopherol) and the synthetic antioxidant(BHT) at the level of 0.01%(w/w) of total fat. Samples were refrigerated at $4{\sim}6^{\circ}C$ for 3, 5, 7 and 10 days to evaluate the color and the pH as the quality parameters, TBA value and fatty acid composition as the parameters of lipid peroxidation, and the activities of SOD and catalase. This study showed that catechin and pycnogenol were excellent in terms of meat color, pH and delaying lipid peroxidation and also maintained the activity of in vivo SOD and catalase better than ${\alpha}$-tocopherol and BHT. These results suggested that the duration of the refrigeration of ground beef may be prolonged up to 10 days in catechin and pycnogenol treated ones in terms of the lipid peroxidation, but 5 days of refrigeration will be more adequate if considering the microbial safety as food, too.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.28-33
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• 2003

Pycnogenol (PYC) is believed to have potential as a therapeutic agent against free radical-mediated oxidative stress. It is important, therefore, to understand the interactions between PYC and cellular defenses against oxidative stress. Toward this end, we analyzed the survival rates on the gene expression responses of E. coli sod katG mutants to PYC after pre-treatment of PQ or H$_2$O$_2$-mediated stress under aerobic conditions. We identified SOD induced by PYC, but not HP1 in sod hate mutants. A striking result was the PYC induction of SOD with antioxidant property in single katG mutant cells, particularly MnSOD and CuZnSOD. These inductions were further increased with oxidative stress, while HP1 was not induced in these conditions. The effects of pycnogenol treatment on these cells depend in part on its concentration on the stress response. Protective effects of PYC exposure which affected gene expression in cells were consistent with cell survival rates. Our results demonstrate that pycnogenol may alter the stress response gene expression in a specific manner such as SOXRS because PYC induction of single mutant only worked under increased PQ stress. All together our data indicate that SOD activity is essential for the cellular defense against PQ-mediated oxidative stress, suggesting that PYC may not be effective as an antioxidant in only oxidative stress conditions. On the other hand, it was expected that PYC may play a role as a pro-oxidant and if it is available for use, it should be evaluated carefully.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.533-538
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• 2014

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: We investigated the effect of Pycnogenol (Pyc) on survival and immune dysfunction of C57BL/6 mice induced by low micronutrient supplementation. MATERIALS/METHODS: Female C57/BL/6 mice were fed a diet containing 7.5% of the recommended amount of micronutrients for a period of 12 wks (immunological assay) and 18 wks (survival test). For immunological assay, lymphocyte proliferation, cytokine regulation, and hepatic oxidative status were determined. RESLUTS: Pyc supplementation with 50 and $100mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}{\cdot}bw{\cdot}d^{-1}$ resulted in partial extension of the median survival time. Pyc supplementation led to increased T and B cell response against mitogens and recovery of an abnormal shift of cytokine pattern designated by the decreased secretion of Th1 cytokine and increased secretion of Th2 cytokine. Hepatic vitamin E level was significantly decreased by micronutrient deficiency, in accordance with increased hepatic lipid peroxidation level. However, Pyc supplementation resulted in a dose-dependent reduction of hepatic lipid peroxidation, which may result from restoration of hepatic vitamin E level. CONCLUSION: Findings of this study suggest that Pyc supplementation ameliorates premature death by restoring immune dysfunction, such as increasing lymphocyte proliferation and regulation of cytokine release from helper T cells, which may result from the antioxidative ability of Pyc.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.161-166
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• 2005

We investigated the effect of pycnogenol (PYC) supplementation on retarding the immune dysfunction of CS7BL/6 mice after murine AIDS (MAIDS) development. Dysfunction of T and B cell mitogenesis from primary cultured splenocytes has been observed with retrovirus infection and PYC supplementation partially recovered the dysfunction of T and B cells. There was an abnormal shift of cytokine pattern with retrovirns infection, which was designated by the decreased secretion of Th1 cytokines and increased secretion of Th2 cytokines. PYC supplementation increased IL-2 and $IFN-\gamma$ secretion and decreased IL-4, IL-6, and $TNF-\alpha$ secretion, but it was not sufficient enough to maintain the normal level of these cytokines. Hepatic vitamin E level was significantly decreased by retrovirns infection, in accordance with increased hepatic lipid peroxidation level, whereas PYC supplementation normalized the hepatic level of vitamin E and lipid peroxidation. This study suggests that PYC supplementation may partially help retard the incidence of symptoms during MAIDS.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.133-139
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• 2013

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of pycnogenol (PYC) on the cutaneous wound healing of the mice. The wounds were extracted on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 post-injury for histomorphometrical analysis including wound area, infiltrating inflammatory cells, wound contracture including collagen deposition. As the result, the wound area of PYC-treated group was larger than the control group on days 1 to 7. Inflammatory cells in the PYC-treated wounds were decreased at day 1 compared to the control wound tissue. From day 3 to 7, there was no significant difference between the control and the PYC-treated skin wounds. Though the degree of contraction in the PYC-treated group was lower than that of the control group from days 1 to 5, but appeared significantly higher on day 7. Compared to the control group, collagen accumulation in the PYC-treated group was higher than that of the control group from days 5 to 7. From this result, it may support the possibility that PYC would be useful agent for early inflammatory response and matrix remodeling phase of the skin wounds.

• Laboraroty Animal Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.76-83
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• 2017

Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) is an important disease featured as intense inflammation, protease imbalance, and air flow limitation and mainly induced by cigarette smoke (CS). In present study, we explored the effects of $Pycnogenol^{(R)}$ (PYC, pine bark extract) on pulmonary fibrosis caused by CS+lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure. Mice were treated with LPS intranasally on day 12 and 26, followed by CS exposure for 1 h/day (8 cigarettes per day) for 4 weeks. One hour before CS exposure, 10 and 20 mg/kg of PYC were administered by oral gavage for 4 weeks. PYC effectively reduced the number of inflammatory cells and proinflammatory mediators caused by CS+LPS exposure in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. PYC inhibited the collagen deposition on lung tissue caused by CS+LPS exposure, as evidenced by Masson's trichrome stain. Furthermore, transforming growth $factor-{\beta}1$ ($TGF-{\beta}1$) expression and Smad family member 2/3 (Smad 2/3) phosphorylation were effectively suppressed by PYC treatment. PYC markedly reduced the collagen deposition caused by CS+LPS exposure, which was closely involved in $TGF-{\beta}1$/Smad 2/3 signaling, which is associated with pulmonary fibrotic change. These findings suggest that treatment with PYC could be a therapeutic strategy for controlling COPD progression.