Does oral intake of camellia oil affect lipid metabolism in the skin?

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K02320
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 08030:Family and consumer sciences, and culture and living-related
• Research Institution: Nagasaki University
• Principal Investigator: Oikawa Daichi 長崎大学, 教育学部, 准教授 (90571216)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 池上 太郎 琉球大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 助教 (00754409)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: ツバキ油 / 皮膚 / 脂質代謝

Outline of Final Research Achievements

<1. Lipid metabolism in mouse skin following oral ingestion of non-heated camellia oil> The expression levels of lipid-related genes in mouse skin from the control, olive oil, and camellia oil groups were measured. There were no significant differences between the three groups in the expression levels of fatty acid synthesis, lipid synthesis, and unsaturated fatty acid synthase. The skin oleic acid content, which had been examined prior to this study, was significantly higher in the camellia oil group than in the control group. From this, it was hypothesized that the fatty acids in the oils were transferred to the skin.
<2. Skin lipid metabolism following oral ingestion of heated camellia oil> The expression levels of lipid-related enzymes in the skin were measured using the same method as in <1>. There were no significant differences among the four groups: camellia oil group, olive oil group, heated camellia oil group, and heated olive oil group.

Free Research Field

食物学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究により、非加熱ツバキ油または加熱ツバキ油を経口しても皮膚の脂質代謝に関与する酵素に影響を与える可能性は低いことがわかった。検証済みである皮膚の脂質量に関してもツバキ油は変化を与えなかったことから、ドレッシングなどの生食用や加熱調理に使用する油として有用であることがわかった。
一方、ツバキ油の摂取は皮膚の脂肪酸組成を変化させることから、持続的に摂取することで皮膚の酸化や機能性に変化が表れる可能性が示唆された。