Innovative analytical methodology for skin anti-aging compounds discovery from plant extracts: Integration of High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography-in vitro spectrophotometry bioassays with multivariate modeling and molecular docking.

Summary

The study presents an integrated pipeline that couples HPTLC separation with in vitro spectrophotometric bioassays for tyrosinase and elastase inhibition and DPPH radical scavenging, alongside multivariate regression and molecular docking. This workflow enables rapid localization and prioritization of anti-aging actives within complex plant extracts to accelerate cosmeceutical discovery.

Key Findings

• Developed an integrated HPTLC–bioassay–multivariate modeling–molecular docking workflow for anti-aging compound discovery from complex plant extracts.
• Included spectrophotometric assays targeting tyrosinase inhibition (anti-pigmentation), elastase inhibition (anti-wrinkle), and DPPH radical scavenging.
• Framework enables localization of bioactive bands post-HPTLC and computational prioritization of candidate molecules.

Clinical Implications

While preclinical, this platform can improve the pipeline quality for anti-aging products by prioritizing bioactive molecules with mechanisms relevant to pigmentation and wrinkle formation before costly formulation and clinical testing.

Limitations

• Lacks in vivo or clinical validation of identified candidates
• Risk of overfitting in multivariate models and limitations of docking accuracy without experimental structure confirmation

Future Directions

Integrate MS-based structural elucidation (e.g., LC–MS/MS), validate top hits in human skin cell models and controlled clinical studies, and share datasets/code for reproducibility.