Bird's nest is a nest made of swiftlet saliva, down feathers and other substances. 656 years ago, royal nobles ate bird's nests to meet beauty. Nowadays, when the beauty economy is prevalent, bird's nest is still the first choice for women to nourish their skin.
The main nutrient of bird's nest is protein, and the main bioactive component is sialic acid. These two indicators are important quality indicators for distinguishing bird's nest grades according to the industry standard GB/H 1092-2014. According to this standard, the higher the protein content and sialic acid content, the higher the quality level of the bird's nest.
Table 1. Sialic acid content in bird’s nests of various quality grades
Among them, sialic acid, also known as bird's nest acid, is a collective name for a class of negatively charged nine-carbon alpha-keto acid monosaccharide derivatives. It was named sialic acid because it was first isolated from bovine mandibular gland mucin by Blix.
What's relationship with N-acetylneuraminic acid?
Sialic acid is an important component of glycoproteins, oligosaccharides, and glycolipids. It usually exists as a glycoside structure at the ends of glycoproteins and glycolipids, and is widely found in vertebrates and mammals, such as the midbrain, liver, Blood, submandibular gland, brain gray matter, etc. There are more than 50 kinds of sialic acids that have been discovered, mainly including N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac), N-glycoulylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) and deaminoneuraminic acid. (deaminoneuraminic acid) three core monomers. The sialic acid contained in bird's nest mainly refers to N-acetylneuraminic acid.
In addition, N-acetylneuraminic acid is the most common and abundant component, and it is also the most thoroughly studied sialic acid in the human body. Therefore, in most cases, people equate N-acetylneuraminic acid with sialic acid.
Pic 1. Sialic Acid structural formula
In addition, sialic acid is also found in large amounts in dairy products such as mutton, eggs, and breast milk, so it can be supplemented through exogenous intake. Bird's nest acid has the functions of mediating gangliosides, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-tumor, promoting growth, antioxidant, delaying aging, promoting collagen regeneration, etc., and is used in medicine, food, beauty and personal care fields.
Here we will focus on N-acetylneuraminic acid and learn about this ingredient and the story of the sialic acid family behind it.
Some evidences
Since 2021, there are several companies register N-acetylneuraminic Acid in National Medical Products Administration, The purpose of use of this raw material has been extended from moisturizer to anti-wrinkle agent, skin protectant, humectant and antioxidant, and can be applied to various skin care products.
What kind of charm is it that allows N-acetylneuraminic acid to be successfully registered several times in a short period of time? Mainly because it has the functions of moisturizing, scavenging free radical ROS, promoting collagen regeneration, inhibiting skin glycation, etc., which can help skin anti-aging, achieve firmness and moisturization. Pic 2. NMPA cosmetic raw material registering record
Anti-oxidation
Compared with the control group, N-acetylneuraminic acid at different concentrations (15.6μg/mL, 31.3μg/mL, 62.5μg/mL [Zeng 1]) can significantly reduce the free radical ROS content (detected by relative fluorescence value ), helps resist cellular aging.
Pic 3. Reduction of free radical ROS
Promote type I collagen production
The content of type I collagen increases as the concentration of N-acetylneuraminic acid increases. Tests show that N-acetylneuraminic acid can effectively promote the formation of type I collagen and help maintain the skin's supporting structure.
Pic 4.Collagen content increases with increasing concentration of N-acetylneuraminic acid
Anti-glycation
The inhibition rate of non-enzymatic glycation increases with the increase in the concentration of N-acetylneuraminic acid. Experiments have proven that N-acetylneuraminic acid can inhibit the glycation process of the skin by inhibiting non-enzymatic glycation and protect the skin from excessive yellowing and dullness.
Pic 5. Non-enzymatic glycosylation inhibition rate increases with increasing N-acetylneuraminic acid concentration
In addition, test results from the Dermatology Department of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University show that sialic acid has anti-wrinkle and improved skin firmness effects.