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Updated: Aug 20, 2026

Quantification of Hypopigmentation Activity In Vitro
Published on: March 6, 2019
Ocular melanogenesis: the role of antioxidants
Rangaprasad Sarangarajan1, Shireesh P Apte
1Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Worcester, Mass., USA.
Abstract:
Given the propensity of a large number of melanogenic pathways that can be modulated by cellular redox status, a causal role of the deficiency of ocular pigments such as melanin in the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration and evidence that melanin production does occur in the adult eye, it seems not improbable that antioxidants (or agents that modify cellular redox status) may have melanin stimulatory (or inhibitory) effects that are superimposible on their effects as mere free radical scavengers. More empirical studies are needed to investigate this phenomenon so that antioxidant therapy may prove more beneficial to patients with ocular degenerative diseases.
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