{"doi":"10.3390/md23070278","title":"Macroalgae-Inspired Brominated Chalcones as Cosmetic Ingredients with the Potential to Target Skin Inflammaging","abstract":"Skin aging is mainly caused by external factors like sunlight, which triggers oxidative stress and chronic inflammation. Natural halogenated flavonoids have demonstrated anti-inflammatory properties. Inspired by the macroalgae-derived bromophenol BDDE, we investigated the anti-inflammatory potential of structure-related chalcones (1–7). Chalcones 1 and 7 showed the least cytotoxicity in keratinocyte and macrophage cells. Chalcones 1, 2, 4, and 5 exhibited the most significant anti-inflammatory effects in murine macrophages after lipopolysaccharide stimulation, with chalcone 1 having the lowest IC50 value (≈0.58 μM). A SNAP assay confirmed that chalcones do not exert their effects through direct NO scavenging. Symmetrical bromine atoms and 3,4-dimethoxy groups on both aromatic rings improved the anti-inflammatory activity, indicating a relevant structure–activity relationship. Chalcones 1 and 2 were selected for study to clarify their mechanisms of action. At a concentration of 7.5 μM, chalcone 2 demonstrated a rapid and effective inhibitory action on the protein levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), while chalcone 1 exhibited a gradual inhibitory action. Moreover, chalcone 1 effectively activated the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway with around a 3.5-fold increase at the end of 24 h at 7.5 μM, highlighting its potential as a modulator of oxidative stress responses. These findings place chalcone 1 as a promising candidate for skincare products targeting inflammation and skin aging.","journal":"Marine Drugs","year":2025,"id":545120,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":1,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9484,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2025-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1435533,"name":"Sara Gimondi","orcid":"0000-0002-6660-0477","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1435534,"name":"Sónia Pinho","orcid":"0000-0002-7426-5197","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1435535,"name":"Helena Ferreira","orcid":"0000-0002-3770-9393","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1435536,"name":"Nuno M. Neves","orcid":"0000-0003-3041-0687","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1435537,"name":"Andreia Palmeira","orcid":"0000-0002-1391-2143","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1435538,"name":"Emı́lia Sousa","orcid":"0000-0002-5397-4672","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1267032,"name":"Isabel F. Almeida","orcid":"0000-0002-1498-048X","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1435539,"name":"Maria Teresa Cruz","orcid":"0000-0001-9846-6754","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1435540,"name":"Honorina Cidade","orcid":"0000-0003-0715-1779","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1435532,"name":"Ana Jesus","orcid":"0000-0001-7425-9750","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":48,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:53:17.418915Z","pmid":"40710503","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}