The effect of topical glutamic acid in the skin

• Grant number: 18/10248-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2018
• End date: September 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nursing - Medical-Surgical Nursing
• Principal Investigator: Eliana Pereira de Araujo
• Grantee: Beatriz de Andrade Berti
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Enfermagem. Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The high prevalence of skin diseases, increasing obesity, diabetes, and aging are factors associated with chronic wounds, skin cancer, and psoriasis. The treatment of these skin diseases is challenging because of worse quality of life and functional capacity in addition to high health costs. Glutamic acid, an excitatory neurotransmitter of the central nervous system plays important roles in other tissues, but its function is unknown in the integumentary system, specifically in the skin. There are reports in the literature that glutamic acid can activate the differentiation of basal layer keratinocytes through NMDA receptors. Our hypothesis, therefore, is that there is a fine balance in the homeostasis of the skin barrier and glutamic acid can modulate this balance. The identification of therapeutic targets that can be modulated topically for the purpose of treating highly prevalent diseases is extremely relevant. Thus, the goal of this project is to identify whether glutamic acid is capable of modulating cell proliferation and differentiation in the skin of healthy mice. For this, we will use 8-week-old Swiss mice in which glutamic acid or vaseline at different concentrations will be applied topically. The skin will be evaluated macroscopically and tissue fragments will be collected for histology, Western blotting, and real-time PCR. Statistical analyzes will be done by student t test and ANOVA. In all cases, the level of significance for rejection of the null hypothesis will be 5% (p <0.05).