Abstract
Ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation has been known to cause skin damage, which is associated with oxidative stress, DNA damage, and apoptosis. Echinacoside is a phenylethanoid glycoside isolated from Herba Cistanches, which exhibits strong antioxidant activity. In this study, we evaluate the photoprotective effect of echinacoside on UVB-induced skin damage and explore the potential molecular mechanism. BALB/c mice and HaCaT cells were treated with echinacoside before UVB exposure. Histopathological examination was used to evaluate the skin damage. Cell viability, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels, antioxidant enzyme activities, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, DNA damage, and apoptosis were measured as well. Western blot was used to measure the expression of related proteins. The results revealed that pretreatment of echinacoside ameliorated the skin injury; attenuated oxidative stress, DNA damage, and apoptosis caused by UVB exposure; and normalized the protein levels of ATR, p53, PIAS3, hnRNP K, PARP, and XPA. To summarize, echinacoside is beneficial in the prevention of UVB-induced DNA damage and apoptosis of the skin in vivo and in vitro.