Inhibitory effects of arbutin () on tyrosinase activity in human melanocytes. Cultures of 10 000 cells cm2 were incubated with these agents for 3 days. Tyrosinase activity was measured using L-DOPA (1103 mol l1) as the substrate.
The results are expressed as percentage of inhibition with respect to the untreated control.
it causes a concentration-dependent reduction in cellular tyrosinase activity of cultured human melanocytes at final concentrations between 1105 and 1103 mol l1. Its potency is about one hundredth of that of hydroquinone,therapeutic drug for vitiligines, but is higher than that of kojic acid or ascorbic acid, which are also known as skinwhitening agents.