The topical effect of tyrosine in altering skin pigmentogenesis was studied using melanin pigment producing strain of Cryptococcus neoformans. Although the biochemical pathway is different in C. neoformans, where phenol oxidase enzyme is involved unlike tyrosinase as in the case of mammalian cell, still the findings prove the method to be reliable and reproducible. Peri-cellular absorption of tyrosine and subsequent melanogenesis were observed in treated cell of C neoformans. Further the

more »

... of pigment produced in the cell of the organism was different from phenol oxidase induced pigment. The pigment thus offered protection to the cells from UV damage. The observation based study on tyrosine based cream in human skin and subsequent sun exposure resulted in minimal erythema and delayed pigment darkening indicating the underlying melanogenesis process. Further, the absence of erythema suggests the possible melanogenesis activation at sub-dermal level and its effect in protecting the skin from sun damage. The clinical usefulness of topical tyrosine and other scientific details are discussed in the paper.