Abstract
Skin is exposed to various harmful environmental factors such as air pollution, which includes different types of particulate matter (PM). Atmospheric PM has harmful effects on humans through increasing the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which have been reported to promote skin aging via the induction of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which in turn can cause the degradation of collagen. In this study, we investigated the effect of fermented fish oil (FFO) derived from mackerel on fine PM (particles with a diameter < 2.5 µm: PM(2.5))-induced skin aging in human keratinocytes. We found that FFO inhibited the PM(2.5)-induced generation of intracellular ROS and MMPs, including MMP-1, MMP-2, and MMP-9. In addition, FFO significantly abrogated the elevation of intracellular Ca(2+) levels in PM(2.5)-treated cells and was also found to block the PM(2.5)-induced mitogen-activated protein kinase/activator protein 1 (MAPK/AP-1) pathway. In conclusion, FFO has an anti-aging effect on PM(2.5)-induced aging in human keratinocytes.