• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.147-151
• /
• 2009

D-pinitol, another chemical structure of 3-O-methyl-D-chiro-inositol, is an important insulin-sensitizer. The purpose of this review is to examine the characteristics of pinitol and other analogs as functional food biomaterials which were well known to reduce blood glucose levels. Pinitol can be converted to chiro-inositol in normal humans, while diabetic patients can not use the molecule, resulting in exhibiting low level of chiro-inositol in their urine. Recently, it is reported that pinitol can trigger phospholipase C/D, thus the rate of glucose metabolism accelerates to use as fuel for human body. To not only reduce insulin resistance of diabetic patients, but also alleviate the symptoms of diabetes, obesity, and muscle contraction, pinitol and its dietary supplementation is needed.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.224-230
• /
• 2024

Pinitol (3-O-Methyl-D-chiro-inositol) has been reported to possess insulin-like effects and is known as one of the anti-diabetic agents to improve muscle, liver, and endothelial cells. However, the beneficial effects of pinitol on the skin are not well known. Here, we investigated whether pinitol had effects on human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs), and human dermal equivalents (HDEs) irradiated with ultraviolet A (UVA), which causes various damages including photodamage in the skin. We observed that pinitol enhanced wound healing in UVA-damaged HDFs. We also found that pinitol significantly antagonized the UVA-induced up-regulation of matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP1), and the UVA-induced down-regulation of collagen type I and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1 (TIMP1) in HDEs. Electron microscopy analysis also revealed that pinitol remarkably increased the number of collagen fibrils with regular banding patterns in the dermis of UVA-irradiated human skin equivalents. Pinitol significantly reversed the UVA-induced phosphorylation levels of ERK and JNK but not p38, suggesting that this regulation may be the mechanism underlying the pinitol-mediated effects on UVA-irradiated HDEs. We also observed that pinitol specifically increased Smad3 phosphorylation, which is representative of the TGF-β signaling pathway for collagen synthesis. These data suggest that pinitol exerts several beneficial effects on UVA-induced damaged skin and can be used as a therapeutic agent to improve skin-related diseases.