Approaches to increasing skin melanin with MSH analogs and synthetic melanins

Increased public awareness of ultraviolet (UV) radiation-induced skin cance rs has lead to new interest in technologies for protection from son exposur e. Although many sun protection formulations are available, few of them att empt to achieve that provided by melanin itself, i.e., wide-spectrum absorb ance of radiant energy coupled with anti-oxidant activity from a single pro duct, In that regard, technologies in two separate areas are at or near the commercialization stage: 1) hormonal enhancement of natural skin melanin c ontent, and 2) inclusion of natural and synthetic melanins in cosmetic form ulations to impart melanin-like color to the skin. In this article, these a pproaches are briefly summarized using as examples Melanotans I and II(R), superpotent analogs of the melanin-stimulating hormone melanocortin (MSH), and Melasyn((R)), a group of plant-derived synthetic melanins that have suc cessfully been incorporated into cosmetic formulations for use as sun prote ctants and as cover-ups for problems resulting from uneven pigmentation, su ch as seen in vitiligo.