Antioxidant Effect of a Plant-Derived Extracellular Vesicles’ Mix on Human Skin Fibroblasts: Induction of a Reparative Process

Abstract

Plant-Derived Extracellular Vesicles extracellular vesicles (PDEVs) from organic agriculture (without the use of pesticides and microbicides) contain high levels of antioxidants. Organic PDEVs have shown an increased antioxidant power compared to PDEVs from single plants, suggesting a synergistic effect of the bioactives constitutively expressed in the PDEVs from single fruits. With this study, we wanted to investigate the beneficial effects of a mix of PDEVs on human skin cells. We found detectable levels of citric acid, ascorbic acid, glutathione, catalase, and SOD in a mix of PDEVs deriving from five different fruits (grape, red orange, papaya, pomegranate, and tangerine). We then treated H2O2-conditioned fibroblasts with the mix of PDEVs. The results showed that the PDEVs’ mixture reverted the H2O2-induced redox imbalance, restoring mitochondrial homeostasis, with a strong reduction of mitochondrial anion superoxide and an increase in sirtuin levels. The antioxidant action was consistent with wound repair on a lesion produced in a fibroblast’s monolayer. This result was consistent with an increased level of vimentin and matrix metalloproteinase-9, whose expression is directly related to the efficiency of the reparative processes. These data support a beneficial role of PDEVs in both preventing and treating skin injuries through their potent antioxidant and reparative activities.

Keywords

• plant-derived extracellular vesicles
• antioxidants
• natural bioactives
• anti-aging
• skin repair
• fibroblasts sirtuin