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Review
. 2023 Dec 30;46(1):299-326.
doi: 10.3390/cimb46010020.

Bitter Phytochemicals as Novel Candidates for Skin Disease Treatment

Teodora-Cristiana Grădinaru  1 , Adelina Vlad  2 , Marilena Gilca  1
Affiliations
Review

Bitter Phytochemicals as Novel Candidates for Skin Disease Treatment

Teodora-Cristiana Grădinaru et al. Curr Issues Mol Biol. .

Abstract

Skin diseases represent a global healthcare challenge due to their rising incidence and substantial socio-economic burden. While biological, immunological, and targeted therapies have brought a revolution in improving quality of life and survival rates for certain dermatological conditions, there remains a stringent demand for new remedies. Nature has long served as an inspiration for drug development. Recent studies have identified bitter taste receptors (TAS2Rs) in both skin cell lines and human skin. Additionally, bitter natural compounds have shown promising benefits in addressing skin aging, wound healing, inflammatory skin conditions, and even skin cancer. Thus, TAS2Rs may represent a promising target in all these processes. In this review, we summarize evidence supporting the presence of TAS2Rs in the skin and emphasize their potential as drug targets for addressing skin aging, wound healing, inflammatory skin conditions, and skin carcinogenesis. To our knowledge, this is a pioneering work in connecting information on TAS2Rs expression in skin and skin cells with the impact of bitter phytochemicals on various beneficial effects related to skin disorders.

Keywords: TAS2R; bitter; phytochemicals; skin; skin aging; skin cancer; skin inflammation; wound healing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical structures of some bitter phytochemicals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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