본 연구는 한방제제의 구성 약재인 마황이라는 천연한방소재로부터 미백효과가 있는 화장품 원료를 개발하고자 하였다. 본 실험에서 마황추출물의 tyrosinase 억제 효과를 확인하고 마황추출 과정을 세분화하여 methylene chloride 및 물분획물을 얻었으며 이들을 가지고 다시 tyrosinase 억제 실험을 실시하였다. 그 결과 수층부분에서만 $0.2\%$ 농도에서 $60.6\%$의 tyrosinase 억제 효과를 보여주었으며 이후 수층부분만을 농축하여 L-DOPA 산화억제 실험 및 B-16 melanoma를 이용한 미백 실험을 실시하였다. 그 결과 마황추출물 $0.5\%$ 농도에서 $87\%$의 L-DOPA 산화억제 효과를 보여주었으며, $0.75\%$에서는 $98.8\%$의 억제효과를 보여주었다. 또한 B-16 melanoma에서는 $0.05\%$에서 $70.2\%$, $0.075\%$에서는 $79.9\%$의 억제효과를 보여주었다. 그리고 수층부분만을 농축한 마황추출물의 in vivo상에서의 미백 효과를 검증하기 위하여 마황추출물 $0.5\%$를 함유한 제형으로 미백 임상실험을 실시하였다. 그 결과 마황추출물을 함유한 제형에서 10주 경과 후에 육안 및 기기평가 모두에서 미백효과를 보여주었으며 통계적으로도 유의한 차이(p<0.05)를 보여주었다.
In this study, we investigated the application of an extract from Ephedra sinica which has been composed of traditional Korean medicine as a whitening ingredient. The extract of Ephedra sinica which was obtained from the mixture of methanol and water (1:1) the inhibitory effect of tyrosinase. Then, Ephedra sinica was extracted by two different solvents. One was water and the other was methylene chloride. Only, the water extract of Ephedra sinica showed the inhibitory effort of tyrosinase; the anti-tyrosinase activity with $0.2\%$ of the water extract was $60.6\%$. But the extract of Ephedra sinica in methylene chloride fraction showed little inhibitory effect on tyrosinase. The inhibitory effect of the concentrated water extract of Ephedra sinica was tested on L-DOPA auto-oxidation and melanin synthesis in B-16 melanoma. In L-DOPA auto-oxidation, $0.5\%$ of the concentrated water extract showed $87\%$ of inhibition of L-DOPA auto-oxidation and the $0.75\%$ concentrated Ephedra sinica extract in wafer fraction inhibited $98.8\%$ of that. In melanin synthesis of B-16 melanoma, the concentrated water effect of Ephedra sinica inhibited $70.2\%$ or $79.9\%$ of inhibitory effect on that at the concentration of $0.05\%$ or $0.075\%$, respectively. For verifying the skin whitening effect of the concentrated water extract of Ephedra sinica in vivo, we performed the clinical test of that. The research showed the significant skin whitening effect of a cream containing $0.5\%$ Ephedra sinica extract and the statistical analysis showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) between sample (containing $0.5\%$ Ephedra sinica extract) and placebo after 10 weeks.
