Abstract

Salvia miltiorrhiza is a well-known and widely used medicinal plant for the treatment of angina pectoris, hyperlipidemia and acute ischemic stroke. However, no research has described the function of S. miltiorrhiza on melanogenesis. Therefore, in this study we analyzed the effect of S. miltiorrhiza leaf extract (SME) on the tyrosinase activity and the production of melanin of melanoma cells. Results indicated that SME at 0.1 mg/ml could enhance mushroom tyrosinase activity up to 132.14 ± 11.89% and increase melanin content up to 121.37 ± 16.57% in B16F10 melanoma cells. Besides, no cytotoxicity was observed when B16F10 cells were treated with SME. For this reason, we suggest that SME could be use for the treatment of hypopigmentation disorder and for development of gray hair preventing agents or self-tanning cosmetics.

Key words: Danshen, melanin, melanogenesis, Salvia miltiorrhiza, tyrosinase.