ENHANCING EFFECT OF 2-O-ALPHA-D-GLUCOPYRANOSYL-L-ASCORBIC ACID, A STABLE ASCORBIC-ACID DERIVATIVE, ON COLLAGEN-SYNTHESIS

The objective of the present study was to compare 2-O-alpha-D-glucopyr anosyl-L-ascorbic acid (AA-2G) with ascorbic acid (AA) and ascorbic ac id 2-phosphate (AA-2P) concerning the promotion of collagen production in human skin fibroblasts. Though AA-2G was still observed to be prom oting collagen synthesis at the same level on the 8th day of the cultu re, collagen synthesis was seen to decrease on the fifth day of cultur ing with AA and AA-2P, This sustained collagen synthesis-promoting act ion is considered to be a major feature of the novel vitamin C derivat ive, AA-2G by conducting an experiment in which an a-glucosidase inhib itor was present, it was shown that AA-2G exerts its collagen synthesi s-promoting action after being decomposed to AA by a-glucosidase. Furt her, we observed that for AA-2G, even on the 8th day of the culture, t he amount of AA in the fibroblasts was virtually unchanged from the be ginning of the experiment, whereas, in the case of adding AA and AA-2P , virtually no AA was detectable in the culture medium on the fifth da y. These findings suggests that AA-2G is decomposed to AA by a-glucosi dase in the cells. This AA promotes collagen synthesis, which is prolo nged through AA-2G's sustained decomposition.