Carotenoids from female Grapsus albolineatus as potential anti-ageing compounds

Abstract

Introduction: Grapsus albolineatus is thought to have a high concentration of carotenoid pigments. Although studies on male G. albolineatus have been conducted, no studies on pigment extraction from female G. albolineatus have been carried out. Carotenoids have a high ability to fight free radicals. Previous research has shown that carotenoids can fight free radicals that cause premature skin-aging. The purpose of this research was to find out what kinds of carotenoids are found in G. albolineatus and whether they can act as natural inhibitors of proteins that cause premature aging, such as glucogenase, elastase, and hyaluronidase enzymes. Methods: Carotenoids were extracted from G. albolineatus using column chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); molecular docking and visualization were done with Autodock 4.2 and Discovery Studio/Biovia, respectively.   Results: According to HPLC data, there are carotenoid pigments such as didehydroastaxanthin, tetrahydroastaxanthin, dihydroastaxanthin, diatoxanthin, astaxanthin, and adonixanthin.  According to molecular docking experiments, pigment carotenoids from G. albolineatus are efficient inhibitors of protein elastase and hyaluronidase. Conclusions: G. albolineatus carotenoids have the potential to be anti-aging since they are more effective as protein elastase and hyaluronidase inhibitors than their native inhibitors.