Cited by 186Skin Protection and Agingmelanin and skin pigmentationPhytochemicals and Antioxidant Activities

Natural components in sunscreens: Topical formulations with sun protection factor (SPF)

Open access
He, hailun, Li, anqi, Li, shiqin, Tang, jie, Li, li, Xiong, lidan·2021·Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy

Abstract

Artificial sunscreens are already gaining traction in order to protect the skin from sunburns, photoaging and photocarcinogenesis. However, the efficacy and safety of most artificial sunscreen constituents are hindered by their photostability, toxicity and damage to marine ecosystems. Natural selection and evolution have ensured that plants and animals have developed effective protective mechanisms against the deleterious side effects of oxidative stress and ultraviolet radiation (UV). Hence, natural antioxidants such as sun blockers are drawing considerable attention. The exact mechanism by which natural components act as sunscreen molecules has not been clearly established. However, conjugated π system is reported to play an important role in protecting the vital genetic material within the organism. Compared to artificial sunscreens, natural sunscreens with strong UV absorptive capacities are largely limited by low specific extinction value and by their inability to spread in large-scale sunscreen cosmetic applications. Previous studies have documented that natural components exert their photoprotective effects (such as improved skin elasticity and hydration, skin texture, and wrinkles) through their antioxidant effects, and through the regulation of UV-induced skin inflammation, barrier impairment and aging. This review focuses on natural antioxidant topical formulations with sun protection factor (SPF). Lignin, melanin, silymarin and other ingredients have been added to high sun protection nature sunscreens without any physical or chemical UV filters. This paper also provides a reference for adopting novel technical measures (extracting high content components, changing the type of solution, optimizing formulation, applying Nano technology, et al) to design and prepare nature sunscreen formulations equated with commercial sunscreen formulations. Another strategy is to add natural antioxidants from plants, animals, microorganisms and marine organisms as special enhancer or modifier ingredients to reinforce SPF values. Although the photoprotective effects of natural components have been established, their deleterious side effects have not been elucidated.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.biopha.2020.111161

Cites

105 of 105 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • UV filters have been detected in marine organisms.

    “In fact, many studies have confirmed the detection of UV filters in human biological samples [12,13] and in marine organisms [14,15,16,17], thus confirming the hypothesis of UV filter-derived toxic effects.”

    From UV Filters: Challenges and Prospects (2022) · cites this paper as [15]

  • UV filters can cause toxic effects.

    “In fact, many studies have confirmed the detection of UV filters in human biological samples [12,13] and in marine organisms [14,15,16,17], thus confirming the hypothesis of UV filter-derived toxic effects.”

    From UV Filters: Challenges and Prospects (2022) · cites this paper as [15]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

1 retracted

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
He, H., Li, A., Li, S., Tang, J., Li, L., & Xiong, L.
Affiliations
Sichuan University (CN)
Corresponding author
Xiong, lidan
Venue
Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2021-02
Volume
134
Pages
111161
ISSN
0753-3322 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3115421294
Cited by
186
References
105
Citations by year
2026: 23 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 1
FWCI
3.64
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
West China Hospital, Sichuan University
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Dermatology › Skin Protection and Aging
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › melanin and skin pigmentation
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Biochemistry › Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Activities
Keywords
natural sunscreen, sun protection factor, topical formulation, UV protection, photoprotection, natural antioxidants, lignin, melanin, silymarin, skin inflammation, photostability
MeSH terms
Administration, Cutaneous, Animals, Antioxidants, Humans, Plant Extracts, Plants, Medicinal, Skin, Sunburn, Sunscreening Agents, Ultraviolet Rays, Skin Aging, Oxidative Stress

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review