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  • Preparation and evaluation of ointment based on spirulina algae and plant extracts including tea tree oil and marshmallow extract and investigating the effects of herbal compounds in improving the treatment of acne scars
  • Farnaz Karbasi,1,* Golafrooz Amini,2
    1. Department of Chemistry, East Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
    2. Polymer Technology, School of Chemical Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Science and research Branch, Tehran, Iran


  • Introduction: Acne is one of the most common skin problems, especially among teenagers and adults.Today, various treatments for this problem have been found . Retinoids are derivatives of vitamin A, among which are medicines that are used to improve the treatment of acne scars. It is prescribed to patients and is often used as a first-line treatment for patients with mild to moderate acne, especially when the acne is predominantly comedogenic. While retinol is used as the main active ingredient in many skin care formulations, its effectiveness is often limited by its extreme sensitivity to degradation and toxicity at high concentrations. In addition, a significant number of people who are under treatment with Retinoids are faced with several side effects including, dry skin, dry eyes and blurred vision, eczema, liver damage and etc. In this research, an attempt was made to provide an ointment consisting of common ointments in the market, including retinoids and base ointment (Ocerin) and plant extracts which can reduce the duration of treatment and use of medicine for patients by focusing on improving the antibacterial properties of the new ointment .
  • Methods: Due to the antibacterial properties of spirulina algae, tea tree oil and marshmallow plant, as well as the softening property of glycerin, it is expected that an ointment with better properties can be produced in order to heal acne faster and also reduce side effects such as dry skin. Considering this, with the aim of reducing these side effects and speeding up the recovery process, spirulina algae, plant extracts including tea tree oil and marshmallow extract, and glycerin were added to commercial ointments including isotretinoin ointment 0.01% of Raha Daro Company and base ointment (Oserin) and the antibacterial effects of these herbal compounds on commercial ointments were investigated. First, spirulina algae with 0.5, 1, 2, and 2.5 wt% were added to the base ointment (Oserin) and commercial isotretinoin ointment and FTIR and DSC test materials were carried out. Then, 2, 3, and 4 wt%of marshmallow extract were added to the base ointment specimens (Oserin) and 0.5 and 2 wt% of algae, as well as isotretinoin ointment and algae 0.5% by weight. The specimens containing the Oserin and algae 0.5% and 2% by weight had physical stability after the addition of marshmallow extract, for this reason, FTIR test was carried out for these specimens. After this stage and considering that marshmallow extract and algae cannot be used together, we added glycerin polymer to the ointments containing algae. As we mentioned, one of the side effects of common acne treatment drugs is skin dryness, which sometimes even leads to skin redness and eczema. Our purpose of using glycerin is to increase the softening level of ointments to reduce the dryness of the treated skin. Research has shown that the best effective percentage of glycerin in different combinations is 5 wt %. For this reason, at this stage, the effect of the presence of glycerin at 2, 5, 10 and 15wt% on the structure of the Oserin and Isotretinoin ointments accompanied with algae was investigated. Since the optimal percentages of algae in Oserin and Isotretinoin ointment were 2 and 0.5%, respectively, glycerin was added to these compounds. From all the new samples, FTIR test was performed to explore the effectiveness of the new compounds and DSC test was performed to analyze the thermal performance graph of the compounds. Another combination that we considered for comparison is the combination of Oserin and Isotretinoin ointments with tea tree oil. According to previous studies, the best percentage of tea tree oil effect is 5wt %. 4, 5 and 6 wt %of tea tree oil were added to isotretinoin ointment and Oserin ointment and the stability of the specimens was evaluated. For all specimens containing tea tree oil, favorable results were not obtained and they were excluded from the testing process. According to the optimal specimens that were obtained in this research, Antibacterial tests were applied on the samples containing Oserin and algae 2wt % and glycerin 15 wt %, as well as the combination of isotretinoin and algae 0.5wt % and glycerin 10 wt %, as well pure isotretinoin and oserin . This test shows us whether the bacteria will continue to grow in the presence of these compounds. The larger the diameter of the areas of non-growth of bacteria around the material, the more antibacterial the material.
  • Results: The results of the tests showed that the combination of base ointment and algae 0.5wt% and 2wt % and isotretinoin ointment and algae 0.5 wt% had the best results. The reason why these samples were chosen is that the peaks of the FTIR graph of algae appeared better in the graph of these three compounds and the peaks had less displacement compared to the peaks of the graphs of raw materials. Also, in the DSC charts, the peaks of the chart are better seen in the lower percentages of algae, and the ointments do not cause many changes on the charts compared to the time when the algae were not added. Specimens of Oserin and algae 0.5% and 2% by weight with 2, 3 and 4% by weight of Marshmallow extract, as well as isotretinoin and algae ointment 0.5% by weight with 2, 3 and 4% by weight of Marshmallow extract have unfavorable test results. In the case of compounds containing isotretinoin and algae and marshmallow extract, after adding marshmallow extract, the ointment became completely unstable after a short period of time and became two phases, where the thicker phase had a clot-like state and contained algae. The liquid on this clot was a very runny liquid with a very pale green color. The FTIR test of compounds containing base ointment (oserin) and algae at 0.5 and 2% by weight with 2, 3 and 4% by weight of marshmallow extract indicated that after adding marshmallow extract to the Oserin and algae, the property of algae was lost in the ointment, and in a way, the marshmallow extract had an overlapping effect on the algae, and the FTIR diagram of the specimen was very similar to the graph of the pure Oserin, and neither the peaks of the algae nor the extract of the marshmallow extract were seen in these results. These results mean that in medicinal compounds These two substances neutralize each other's effect and cannot be used. Due to the inappropriate results of this test, DSC test were not performed. The results of the DSC tests showed that after adding glycerin to the ointments and Algae, glycerin reduces the effect of algae, or the peaks are seen with a little shift in the results, or in most cases the peaks have disappeared, and even in some results, peaks are seen that are not related to our raw materials. This shows the decrease in the quality of the new ointment in terms of chemical structure. For the compounds containing Oserin, algae and glycerin, the results indicate that oserin and algae 2wt% and glycerin 2 and 10 wt % had better results .Regarding the combinations of isotretinoin ointment, algae and glycerin, the FTIR diagram of isotretinoin ointment and algae 0.5wt % and glycerin 5 wt% had better results. In 2 wt % glycerin, the effect of algae is not seen and also a new peak is seen. For 10 wt % glycerin, the effect of isotretinoin ointment has disappeared, most of the peaks are related to glycerin and two peaks are near the peaks of algae, and in the case of 15 wt % glycerin, there are three peaks near the peaks of isotretinoin, one peak near algae and most of the peaks of glycerin. Also, the best result is related to the composition containing 5wt % glycerin, but an unknown broad peak that is not related to any of our raw materials is seen in the graph, which is not acceptable based on our results. In general, the results are not very suitable, however, the DSC results were evaluated of the compound containing 5 wt % glycerin, which has a relatively peak at an acceptable temperature. The antibacterial test results of optimal specimens containing Oserin and algae 2 wt % and glycerin 15 wt%, as well as the combination of isotretinoin and algae 0.5 wt% and glycerin 10wt % and isotretinoin ointments and pure base ointment showed that the sample of base ointment and algae 2 wt% and glycerin 15wt % showed better antibacterial properties compared to the sample of isotretinoin and 0.5 wt% algae and 10 wt% glycerin, and this better performance was observed even in pure base ointment compared to pure isotretinoin.
  • Conclusion: Among the samples of base ointment and isotretinoin and spirulina algae with weight percentages of 0.5, 1, 2 and 2.5, the best results of FTIR and DSC tests were obtained by the sample of base ointment and algae at 0.5wt % by weight, the sample of base ointment and algae at 2% by weight and the sample Isotretinoin and algae were 0.5% by weight. Even though the algae and marshmallow extract are well dissolved in oserin and the combinations of oserin and spirulina algae with weight percentages of 0.5 and 2 are stable with the addition of marshmallow extract with 2, 3 and 4 weight percentages, the FTIR diagrams show that the marshmallow extract neutralizes the effect of algae and the composition diagram is very similar to the diagram of pure Oserin. Compounds containing isotretinoin ointment and algae 5 percent by weight and marshmallow extract with 2, 3, and 4 percent by weight do not have physical stability, and the hypothesis that is probable is that in an ointment like Oserin, due to the high concentration of fat and the low amount of marshmallow extract, it is probably extract-like The emulsion is spread in the ointment environment, but in isotretinoin, because the ointment is much smoother and with very little fat, the extract reacted more with the algae and dissolved the algae in itself and became a clot. After adding glycerin to the combination of oserin and spirulina algae with 2% by weight and containing isotretinoin ointment and 0.5% by weight algae, we found that the effect of algae is reduced, but still according to the FTIR results, the effect of this substance can be seen in our composition. Considering that for anti-acne ointments, the emphasis is on both the properties of antibacterial substances such as algae and the properties of skin softening substances such as glycerin, we ignore the amount of reducing the effect of algae. Among the samples of oserin ointment and spirulina algae with 2% by weight and glycerin with 2, 5, 10 and 15% by weight and isotretinoin ointment and 0.5% by weight of algae and glycerin with 2, 5, 10 and 15% by weight have the best FTIR and DSC results. The samples of oserin and spirulina algae with 2% by weight and glycerin with 15% by weight, and isotretinoin and algae with 0.5% by weight and glycerin with 10% by weight, which due to the optimality of these two compounds, we carried out an antibacterial test from them. According to the results of the antibacterial test, we found that the mixture prepared based on Oserin ointment, the sample of Oserin and spirulina algae with 2% by weight and glycerin with 15% by weight, compared to the mixture based on isotretinoin, has better functionality against the growth of Staphylococcus epidermidis. The effect of tea tree oil in combination with Oserin and Isotretinoin ointments is very small and they do not have favorable results, they were from the experimental tests.
  • Keywords: Acne, Spirulina algae, Marshmallow extract, tea tree oil, Staphylococcus epidermidis