Abstract
Market volume of sensitive skin care products has continuously increased along with the increase in people's concern about sensitive skin due to more stressful lifestyles and environmental degradation. We investigated whether dipotassium glycyrrhizate (DPG), the active ingredient which is most frequently utilized in sensitive skin care products in Japan, is able to reduce the expression of nerve growth factor (NGF), which upregulates hyperesthesia in the skin, a characteristic condition of sensitive skin, with an in vitro study. Furthermore, suppression effects in some parameters of sensory discomfort were found in a human stinging test using a formulation containing 5% lactic acid and with/without 0.2% DPG. In this study, DPG suggested the possibility of improvement for persons with various kinds of sensitive skin.
