Both pigments inhibit the growth of disease-causing bacteria; as well, the light absorption of both pigments peaks in the ultraviolet range, creating a sunscreen effect.
"Although caffeine has a sunscreen effect, it also has a biological effect of causing apoptosis — programmed cell death — in UVB-damaged skin cells and in tumors but not in normal skin or in areas adjacent to tumors in tumor-bearing mice," Dr. Conney said in an e-mail message.
- There are also studies demonstrating that vitamins C and E combined with ferulic acid impart both a sunscreen and an anti-oxidant effect.
Scorpions, spiders, and other creatures also fluoresce when exposed to UV light, Reef and colleagues note, suggesting that the sunscreen effect has evolved more than once.
Therefore, the CPE has high potential as a cosmetic ingredient due to its anti-wrinkle, skin whitening, and sunscreen effects.
The sunscreen effects of magnolol have not been investigated in this study which may contribute to anticarcinogenic effects.
You can buy sunscreens that claim to block both UVA and UVB, but there's little FDA regulation of such claims — and still no rating system (like SPF) to measure or compare a sunscreen's effectiveness against UVA.
Furthermore, mycosporine-like amino acids, especially mycosporine-glycine, works both as a sunscreen and as an antioxidant.
Mycosporine-glycine might increase fitness under terrestrial conditions by working both as a sunscreen and as an antioxidant.
The pink pigment works as a sunscreen, protecting both colonies from UV radiation that would otherwise damage their DNA.
