PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims the benefit of the filing date of United States Provisional Patent Application Serial Number 63/421 ,910, filed November 2, 2022 for HERBAL FORMULATION FOR IMPROVEMENT OF SKIN GROWTH which are incorporated herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a nutritional supplement composition comprising marine proteoglycans and collagen that can be administered to a human subject to stimulate skin cell growth. The nutritional supplement can be administered in an oral form or as a topical agent.

The present invention relates to methods of stimulating or promoting skin cell growth in the face or any selected areas of the body. More specifically, the method comprises administering the nutritional supplement composition to a human subject in order to stimulate or promote skin cell growth.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ART

Skin is composed of the epidermis and the dermis. Below these layers lies the hypodermis, which is not usually classified as a layer of skin. The hypodermis is also commonly referred to as subcutaneous fat layer, or subcutaneous tissue. The outermost epidermis is made up of stratified squamous epithelium with an underlying basement membrane. It contains no blood vessels and is nourished by diffusion from the dermis. The main type of cells which make up the epidermis are keratinocytes, with melanocytes and langerhans cells also present. This layer of skin is responsible for keeping w ater in the body and keeping other harmful chemicals and pathogens out.

The dermis lies below the epidermis and contains a number of structures including blood vessels, nerves, hair follicles, smooth muscle, glands and lymphatic tissue. The dermis (or corium) is typically 3-5 mm thick and is the major component of human skin. It is composed of a network of connective tissue, predominantly collagen fibrils providing support and elastic tissue providing flexibility. The main cell types are fibroblasts, adipocytes (fat storage) and macrophages. The hypodermis lies below the dermis. Its purpose is to attach the skin to underlying bone and muscle as well as supplying it with blood vessels and nerves. It is made up of loose connective tissue and elastin. The main cell types are fibroblasts, macrophages and adipocytes. The hypodermis contains 50% body fat. Fat serves as padding and insulation for the body.

Skin aging (e.g., facial aging) occurs as the result of several factors: inherent changes within the skin, effects of gravity, facial muscles acting on the skin (dynamic lines), soft tissue loss or shift and bone loss and loss of tissue elasticity’. The skin ages when the epidermis begins to thin, causing the junction with the dermis to flatten. Collagen decreases as a person ages and the bundles of collagen, which gives the skin turgor, become looser and lose strength. When the skin loses elasticity, it is less able to resist stretching. Coupled with gravity, muscle pull and tissue changes, the skin begin to wrinkle. Loss of skin cells and loss of bonds between cells also reduces the barrier function of the skin, w hich can cause the skin's pore size to increase.

Although various injectables have been developed and used clinically for restoration of age-related tissue loss in the face, due to various limitations in the materials or compatibility with the tissues, the long term effect in restoring the tissue loss is limited. It is desirable to develop improved compositions and treatment methods to enhance the overall effects in restoration of age-related tissue loss in the face or selected areas of the body, such as neck and hands, by stimulating or promoting skin cell growth.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION AND EXAMPLES

The present invention is a nutritional supplement. It is a novel composition comprising marine proteoglycans and collagen, which stimulates the growth of skin cells.

A particular embodiment of the present disclosure relates to an oral nutritional supplement that includes the novel composition. The composition may be delivered as non-toxic salts thereof, effective complexes thereof, stable chelates thereof, active esters thereof, functional derivatives thereof, and mixtures thereof which are effective to stimulate skin cell growth in the general population. Another particular embodiment relates to a topical nutritional supplement that comprises a mixture of marine proteoglycans and type I collagen. In further embodiments, the type I collagen is bovine, porcine, or marine collagen.

Methods of stimulating skin cell growth comprise administering the novel composition to a human subject.

The composition will find applications to stimulate skin cell growth and to promote skin tissue growth, repair the skin, or to rebalance skin proliferation.

In embodiments of the invention, the nutritional supplement includes a composition for promoting skin cell growth comprising marine proteoglycans (obtained from fish cartilage) and collagen in a ratio of 0.1% to 10% marine proteoglycans to 90% to 99.9% collagen. In a particular embodiment, the composition comprises marine proteoglycans and collagen in a ration of 0.1% to 99.9%. In another embodiment, the composition comprises marine proteoglycans and collagen in a ration of 10% to 90%. In particular embodiments of the invention, the collagen may be type I collagen and, more specifically, can be bovine collagen.

In another embodiment, a method of promoting skin cell grow th comprises administering the nutritional supplement to a human subject.

Particular embodiments of the invention relate to oral administration of the disclosed nutritional supplement to a human. The nutritional supplement may be administered from one to three times daily or. alternatively, may be administered every other day, or may be administered once a week. In particular embodiments, the nutritional supplement may be administered on an empty stomach. In another embodiment of the invention, the composition may be administered topically on the skin.

In accordance with the “consist essentially of' and “consisting essentially of' language, the nutritional supplement of the third embodiments is essentially limited to the aforementioned ingredients and does not include any additional active ingredients intended to add nutritional content (e.g., vitamins, minerals, etc.), but may include additional ingredients not intended to add nutritional content such as ingredients intended to fulfill a non-nutritional purpose (e.g., coloring, fillers, flavoring, an ingredient for maintaining the structural form, etc.). Each ingredient of the nutritional supplement of the present invention may be prepared in accordance with any method known to one of ordinary skill in the art. Alternatively, each ingredient may be obtained in a fully prepared from a commercially available source.

The nutritional supplement of the present invention may be in any suitable oral administration form, including but not limited to: a chewable form, a liquid form, a spray form, a capsule form, a suppository form, dissolvable wafer, and a powder form.

Irrespective of the structural form of the nutritional supplement, the ingredients of the nutritional supplement may be distributed homogeneously or non-homogeneously within the nutritional supplement.

The nutritional supplement of the present invention may be ingested on a regular basis, such as a daily or weekly intake at a dosage tailored to an individual's needs; i.e., the nutritional supplement is to be taken regularly as multiples (l x, 2x, etc.) of the structural units (pills, tablets, capsules, liquid dose, etc.) in accordance with the needs of the individual. Alternatively, the nutritional supplement of the present invention may be ingested on an as-needed basis at a dosage tailored to the individual's needs. Medical or nutritional counseling may be beneficial for arriving at a desirable or optimal dosage tailored to the individual's needs. Topical delivery systems such as lotions and creams may apply.

EXAMPLES

Example 1 - Solubility

The solubility of the test products in cell culture media were assessed in accordance with ICCVAM Test Method Evaluation Report Appendix C (November 2006). Briefly, test products were tested on their solubility in cell culture media or DMSO (in that order). Starting from doses of 200 mg/mL the test products were diluted stepwise until totally solved. Since no effect of the test product at concentrations w ere expected below 2 mg/mL we did not dilute further than that regardless if fully dissolved or not. Test products that did not dissolve in DMSO at a concentration of 2 mg/mL were tested in cell culture media in a suspension of 2 mg/mL. Marine proteoglycans samples demonstrated a maximum solubility concentration of 100 mg/ml. Type I (bovine) collagen samples demonstrated a maximum solubility concentration of 20 mg/ml.

Five concentrations of each test product in solution were tested with keratinocytes for 72 hours on 96-well plates. The relative number of viable cells after the treatment were evaluated by addition of a vital dye (MTT). The dye was transformed to a blue metabolite by living cells only. The absorbance measurement of the blue dye generated numbers representative to the amount of living cells in each single culture. Doses that exhibited no loss of viability greater than 70% (compared to the untreated control) were classified as nontoxic and thus applicable in the proliferation assay. However, in the current approach, concentrations were chosen that only resulted in more than 80% viability ⁷ .

Marine proteoglycans samples were tested at concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 100 mg/ml. The highest concentration with more than 70% viability was 0.01 mg/ml.

Type I collagen samples were tested at concentrations ranging from 0.2 to 20 mg/ml. The highest concentrarion w ith more than 70% viability ⁷ was 20 mg/ml and was nontoxic at all tested concentrations.

Example 3 - Proliferation assay

Keratinocytes were seeded in 3000 cells/well onto 96-well plates and were treated with a dose of the test product causing no loss of viability ⁷ greater than 90% as evalutated in 2.2. 24h after seeding. The cells were cultured for a maximum of 72 hours to cover more than 70% (up to 90%) of the total growth area. This was done to prevent slowing down of proliferation due to contact inhibition effects. A second run was conducted (if necessary) due to toxic effects of combinations or other unexpected events. Relative cell numbers at the end of the treatment again were determined by the addition of MTT. Results were generated by absorbance measurement of the blue metabolite formed. The results were presented in tabular form including mean, standard deviation and significance of differences (if applicable).

Marine proteoglycans applied at a concentration of 0.01 mg/ml resulted in a mean value of 99.5% proliferation of skin cells relative to the control when measured at 72 hours. Type I collagen applied at a concentration of 6 mg/ml resulted in a mean value of 102.7% proliferation of skin cells relative to the control with a mean P value of 0.05 when measured at 72 hours.

Surprisingly, the application of the combined type I collagen/marine proteoglycans applied at a respective concentration of 6mg/0.01mg resulted in a mean value of 134.3% proliferation of skin cells with a P value of 0.001 relative to the control when measured at 72 hours. The latter represents a P value that is 50 times more significant. Likewise, the application of the combined type I collagen/marine proteoglycans applied at a respective concentration of 0.3mg/0.01mg resulted in a mean value of 132% proliferation of skin cells with a P value of 0.001 relative to the control when measured at 72 hours, with the same significant P value. Additionally, the application of the combined type I collagen/marine proteoglycans applied at a respective concentration of O.lmg/O.Olmg resulted in a mean value of 128% proliferation of skin cells with a P value of 0.01 relative to the control when measured at 72 hours, representing a P value that is 10 times more significant.

Example 4 - Cell model

We applied the immortal cell line HaCat which is a keratinocyte derived cell line. The cell line is stable, not of carcinogenic origin and retains many properties of normal keratinocytes.

Example 5- Gene Expression Testing

The testing determines how exposure to the test materials {TMs) will influence mRNA expression in in vitro cell tissue samples. Changes in genes will be expressed relative to a suitable Vehicle Controls alone and in mixtures. Tissue Model

The study is performed using full -thickness EFT-400 in vitro skin tissues comprised of normal human keratinocytes in a stratified comeal layer, and a dermal component containing an intact dermal-epidermal junction (DEJ) and viable fibroblasts.

Exposure Method

A final volume of 15 pL of the test material is applied to the surface of the cell tissue following equilibration and again 24 hrs. following the first application. Cell Tissues are collected 24 hrs. after the second application (total exposure time= 48 hrs.).

Differential Gene Expression Analysis

High quality RNA is utilized to test for the RNASeq analysis. Samples that meet the criteria are processed for Differential Gene Expression {RNASeq) analysis.

Differential Gene Expression (DE) is performed using a stranded mRNA-based sequencing approach using Nextgen Sequencing {NGS) (Illumina, cat#:20040532) . This approach enables a highly sensitive and accurate method for quantifying gene expression and is ideal for identifying both known and novel gene transcripts.

The analysis is performed using an Illumina NextSeq 550 Dx instrument. A read depth of 25M reads per sample. Data analysis is performed to identify statistically significant changes in gene expression.

The results will show thousands of skin gene marker expressions at ranges from 1% to 10% marine proteoglycans to 90 % to 99% collagen, several of which are significant to skin growth.