ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Enhanced Mitochondrial Respiratory Metabolism in UV-Damaged HDF cells Based on Metabolomics Analysis of Fermented Galla rhois gallnut Extract
- JW
Jiaying Wu 1
- NW
Ning Wang 2
- DC
Denghui Chen 1
- YZ
Yi Zhang 1
- JS
Jingxia Sun 1
- XZ
Xiao Zhang 1
- GL
Guanlin Li 1
- XL
Xiang Li 1
- HH
Hu Huang 1
1. Proya Cosmetics Company Limited, Hangzhou, China
2. Jinhua Institute of Zhejiang University, Jinhua, China
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Abstract
UV-induced photoaging disrupts mitochondrial homeostasis in skin cells, which in turn exacerbates skin aging. This study developed a novel fermented Galla rhois gallnut extract (FGRE) using Lactiplantibacillus plantarum with mitochondrial respiratory homeostasis amelioration. Biochemical assays showed that FGRE exhibited stronger antioxidant and anti-elastase activities than the unfermented extract. Using Seahorse XF Cell Mito Stress Test, 1% FGRE significantly enhanced mitochondrial respiratory function in UVB-irradiated human dermal fibroblast (HDF) cells compared with unfermented extract. In addition, 1% FGRE increased the ATP content and NAD+/NADH ratio, and regulated the transcription level of fusion and fission genes in UVA-induced HDFs. Further, the non-targeted metabolomics analysis revealed that differential metabolites were predominantly enriched in amino acid metabolic pathways, and 24 differential metabolites were putatively identified. Among these, the differential metabolites leucinic acid, urolithin A and urolithin M5 were quantitatively determined. Notably, 1 μg/mL leucinic acid (equivalent to concentration in 1% FGRE) ameliorated mitochondrial respiratory dysfunction and promoted the ATP production in UV-induced HDFs. Therefore, leucinic acid was considered as one of the potentially bioactive metabolites of FGRE.
Summary
Keywords
Fermentation, Galla Rhois, metabolomics analysis, Mitochondria, UVB
Received
29 June 2026
Accepted
02 October 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Wu, Wang, Chen, Zhang, Sun, Zhang, Li, Li and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Xiang Li; Hu Huang
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