Estrogen Darkens Skin Color, Progesterone Lightens It

[Aymen]

so in general blonde women have more progesterone than brunette ?

 

[ddjd]

Aspirin definitely lightens my skin colour

 

[griesburner]

i dont understand exactly what this theory should mean. But do you really think then that people with lighter skin color are more healthy?? If so, i dont think its true. From my personal observations i would even say its the other way. People i know with darker skin color and who get easily darker when exposed to sun in sommer seem way more healthy to me than the people i know who have very light skin color (including me). And my personal theory about why is the following: People with darker skin color (their ancients) were more exposed to sun light over generations and had much more vitamin D which is very important. But maybe i dont understand what this thread is about exactly.

 

[LeeLemonoil]

@griesburner
No offense, but in fact you don’t understand. We discuss here a finding and publication that the GPE-receptor is involved in melanogenesis. Estrogens and progesterone are ligands of this receptor with opposite effects.
It also doesn’t mean what @Aymen wrote above.
There is no hint whatsoever in the publication that paler or blonde people have more progesterone and darker types more estrogen. It just said what the steroids do when in contact with the receptor within a cell - it’s an action dependent on the relative steroid concentrations within a single cell, no matter what is your skin tone or hair colour

 

[LeeLemonoil]

Functional characterization of the extranasal OR2A4/7 expressed in human melanocytes. - PubMed - NCBI
Functional characterization of the extranasal OR2A4/7 expressed in human melanocytes.

Abstract
Olfactory receptors (ORs) were first described as specialized chemoreceptors in the nasal epithelium. In the last two decades, ORs have also been detected to be functionally expressed and active in different nonolfactory tissues of the human body, because they used to react to specific odour stimuli. In this study, we conducted a characterization of the extranasal OR2A4/7 expressed in primary human melanocytes and sections of the human skin. OR2A4/7 expression could be demonstrated at the transcript and protein level. We uncovered elevated intracellular cAMP and Ca2+ levels accompanied by elevated p38 and reduced p42/44 MAPK phosphorylation following odourant (cyclohexyl salicylate; CHS) stimulation of melanocytes. These results were associated with enhanced melanin biosynthesis in conjunction with the growth inhibition and differentiation of melanocytes. Our findings highlight the participation of OR2A4/7 in human primary melanocyte physiology and suggest an alternate mechanism that regulates melanogenesis.

So what would that mean? Stronger melanin synthesis while melanocyte-groth is inhibited / more differatiated. This reads like a preventive action against possible skin-cancer ....while you get a tan

 

[TheBeastPanda]

It has been known since ancient Greek times that during pregnancy skin color in women changes drastically. Doctors have long suspected that hormones are involved but until now the mechanism was not known. This study shows that estrogen and progesterone are involved in skin color changes. Estrogen increases the production of melanocytes and causes skin to darken, while progesterone works in the opposite direction and lightens skin color. While it would be premature to say that estrogen directly causes melanoma (even though I suspect it) the increased and uncontrolled production of melanocytes is a necessary condition for melanoma to develop and it seems that estrogen is a primary driver of that process, while progesterone opposes it. I posted another study recently showing that pregnenolone is another hormone that may be effective in stopping melanoma progression directly and its conversion into progesterone is likely to have additive beneficial effect.
Pregnenolone For Protection Against Melanoma
Peat also wrote in one of his articles how he made his "active melanomas" disappear by rubbing progesterone and DHEA on them and this study seems to back up his approach.

Sex steroids regulate skin pigmentation through nonclassical membrane-bound receptors. - PubMed - NCBI
Penn Medicine study uncovers new pathways that control skin tanning and lightening | Science Codex
Scientists Find New Way to Tan or Lighten Skin

"...Researchers found that skin color can be regulated by estrogen and progesterone, two of the main female sex hormones. Estrogen darkens the skin; progesterone lightens the skin. Although this much was known to a limited degree, the new research revealed two cellular receptors that appear to control this process in skin cells called melanocytes."

"...By studying human skin cells both in a petri dish and in a 3D-bioengineered patch of skin about the size of a postage stamp, Ridky's team discovered a different, unexpected set of receptors on melanocytes that do interact with the sex hormones. Specifically, they found a receptor called GPER that interacts with estrogen and triggers melanin production, and a receptor called PAQR7 that interacts with progesterone and decreases melanin production."

WOW!

Great stuff Prof Haidut


To what extent could Progesterone lighten skin? does it just depigmenting effects or mild tyrosinae inibitory effects? how potent is it, i know you said Peat used it with DHEA to destroy melanoma

 

[ddjd]

doesnt glutathione lighten skin??

 

[Daniel North]

This thread has mind F'ed me right now, lol

I just came home from a vacation in Spain, and both me and my GF has had the worst(!) symptoms at the end of the vacation. Extreme bloating no matter what we ate. Unlike when i have been bloated previously this time there was almost no farting.
I had extremely high water retention in my "love handles". They were so full of water that i couldn't lean to the sides without them getting super tight. As if they were about to burst! Like a super tight sausage ready to burst if you twist it.

We were tanning 2-5 hours every day in the middle of the day with UV-index of 11 at the highest and without suncream. My Dminder app told me i got somewhere around 20k+ UI vitamin per day. FYI: we didn't get sunburned. We had used melanotan before we left for the holiday, to both be able to get tan enough to not get sunburned and to get very tan, and lots of vitamin D. Because i thought tanning and vitamin was healthy. I understand that the melanotan may not be healthy.

But now, after reading this, i am asking myself if the combination of Melanotan and lots of tanning for a weak was the cause of this bloating and water retention? I am weighting this the day after getting home, and everything is better today. I have taken high doses of vitamin E (didn't bring it to spain) and the first doses of Androsterone from @haidut. Feeling much better.

In Spain, i also started to get micro shaking/trembling in my fingers. Never ever had that symptom before. Super weird and scary. I woke up today with this symptom still being there, but after the vitamin E and androsterone it is almost gone. Is micro shaking/trembling in fingers a high estrogen symptom?

Down in Spain (we are from Scandinavia) i tried what i had with me to maybe fix the symptoms, although i didn't know then what caused it. Never experienced these symptoms before. I tried 3 topped teaspoons of salt. Didnt work. I tried desiccated liver capsules that i had brought with me. Didnt work. I tried 500mg niacin. Didnt work (maybe if i had tried 1000+mg?)

Sun exposure increases production of melanin thereby increasing estrogen in the process

I'm blown away by this For how much and how long should we humans tan?

Why does melanin increase estrogen? Should we humans not get tan? How to prevent increased estrogen after being in the sun?

"...An increase in MSH will cause darker skin in humans too. MSH increases in humans during pregnancy. This, along with increased estrogens, causes increased pigmentation in pregnant women.

This is what melanotan does. Mimick MSH. So melanotan increases "production of melanin thereby increasing estrogen in the process"?
Mind blown. Should humans just not tan that much?

I always thought that vitamin D from the sun lowers estrogen.

Me too

Is adequate vitamin D good, but excessive melanin bad?

Also, sunlight and its UV portion is only dangerous when there is a lot of tissue PUFA, and in that case taking aspirin/niacinamide before going into the sun should mitigate the damage.

Does melanin increase estrogen regardless of how much PUFA is in the body?

I stopped eating PUFA several years ago. Also stopped getting sunburned after that.

 

[Dr. B]

What do you think, is endogenous Melanin production a protective response to inflammation or tissue-damage caused by radiation, estrogens etc. or is it in itself
a destructive process?

Also, Thymoquinone seems to offer promisinf properties, could it be a "Peat approved" Quinone/Phytochemical?
Preclinical and clinical effects of Nigella sativa and its constituent, thymoquinone: A review. - PubMed - NCBI

I don’t know but if you also consider bruising and burning and scarring. Damaging the skin seems to darken it. Also some people seem to get darker as they age. Maybe pufa accumulation also does something.
What does thymoquinone do as far as melanin?

I also am curious about how tyrosine and cbd supplementats can darken skin while niacinamide and aspirin can lighten it

 

[Dr. B]

I do notice that people from hotter climates and darker skin tend to be more loud and aggressive. Even with Caucasians like sicilians Greeks Turks Lebanese Persians ect. Look more masculine and r more aggressive than lets say a German or Dutch or british person..

I always thought that vitamin D from the sun lowers estrogen. That's y people from the tropics are more lean and have better skin and hairlines usually than people who like in cloudy cold climates.

Its not true if you simply look at both Indian and Asian cultures. The hair issues imo are caused by poor diets.