Enhancing effect of 2-O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-L-ascorbic acid, a stable ascorbic acid derivative, on collagen...

The objective of the present study was to compare 2-O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-L-ascorbic acid (AA-2G) with ascorbic acid (AA) and ascorbic acid 2-phosphate (AA-2P) concerning the promotion of collagen production in human skin fibroblasts. Though AA-2G was still observed to be promoting collagen synthesis at the same level on the 8th day of the culture, collagen synthesis was seen to decrease on the fifth day of culturing with AA and AA-2P. This sustained collagen synthesis-promoting action is considered to be a major feature of the novel vitamin C derivative, AA-2G by conducting an experiment in which an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor was present, it was shown that AA-2G exerts its collagen synthesis-promoting action after being decomposed to AA by alpha-glucosidase. Further, we observed that for AA-2G, even on the 8th day of the culture, the amount of AA in the fibroblasts was virtually unchanged from the beginning of the experiment, whereas, in the case of adding AA and AA-2P, virtually no AA was detectable in the culture medium on the fifth day. These findings suggests that AA-2G is decomposed to AA by alpha-glucosidase in the cells. This AA promotes collagen synthesis, which is prolonged through AA-2G's sustained decomposition.