Kojic acid

Kojic acid is a substance produced by Aspergillus oryzae that is orally effective and can also be absorbed transdermally. Kojic acid exhibits various biological activities, including anti-aging, anti-nematode, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects. Kojic acid is a Tyrosinase inhibitor with an Mushroom Tyrosinase IC₅₀ of 182.7 μM. Kojic acid prevents melanin production by capturing copper ions that bind to the tyrosinase active site, thus inhibiting its activation. Kojic acid also suppresses the NF-κB and p21 signaling pathways in human keratinocytes. Kojic acid derivatives have anticancer activity^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]}. In Vitro:Kojic acid (1000 μM, 7 days) enhances the cell migration ability of HCEC cells and exhibits anti-aging activity^[1].
Kojic acid (1000 μM, 7 days) may alleviate the angiogenesis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), induced by senescent supernatant of HCEC cells, through NF-κB and p21 signaling pathways^[1].
Kojic acid (1.4-1000 μg/mL, 3 days) exhibits dose-dependent mortality and hatch inhibition rates against Meloidogyne incognita, with EC50 values of 195.2 μg/mL and 238.3 μg/mL, respectively^[4].
Kojic acid (500 or 1000 µM, 72 h) reduces tyrosinase expression in B16-4A5 and HMV-II cells, indicating that kojic acid inhibits melanogenesis by suppressing tyrosinase activity^[6].
Kojic acid (10-2500 μM, 7 days) does not significantly affect the viability of HCEC cells^[1].
In Vivo:Kojic acid (50 mg/kg, p.o., once daily for 3 weeks) exhibits antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease induced by β-Amyloid (1-42), human (HY-P1363A) ^[8].
Kojic acid (4, 6.4, 10, 16 g/kg, p.o., single dose) does not exhibit significant toxicity in acute oral studies in JCL-Wistar rats^[2].