# Cosmeceutical Potentials of _Equisetum debile_ Roxb. ex Vaucher Extracts
## 3 Results
### Anti-Wrinkle Activities of _E. debile Extracts via the Inhibition of Collagen Enzymes_  
Figure 8 demonstrates that the collagenase inhibitory capacities of _E. debile_ extracts varied by the extraction methods and solvents. All extracts except MR exhibited dose-dependent inhibitions against both MMP-1 and MMP-2 collagenases. In addition, the inhibition patterns of MPP-1 were strongly consistent with MPP-2. The anti-collagenase activities were ranked by the IC\({}_{50}\) values of both collagenases as the following: CE, EF, DF, MF, and HF. The MR showed no detectable activities of collagenase inhibitions. EF exerted the highest inhibitions among all fractions, which were higher than the lowest activities from HF by 3.1-fold of the IC\({}_{50}\) MMP-1 and 2.8-fold of the IC\({}_{50}\) MMP-2. The EF also contained the richest total phenolic contents. \begin{table} \begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Extracts**} & **Anti-Tyrosinase** & **Anti-Sc-Reductase** \\  & **IC\({}_{50}\) (mg/mL)** & **FEA (mg Finasteride/g Extract)** \\ \hline CE & 3.78 \(\pm\) 0.24 b  & 0.83 \(\pm\) 0.01 c  \\ 1 HF & 5.96 \(\pm\) 0.11 a  & 1.10 \(\pm\) 0.01 b  \\ ii DF & 3.54 \(\pm\) 0.10 b  & 1.48 \(\pm\) 0.06 a  \\ iii EF & 0.47 \(\pm\) 0.12 d  & 1.13 \(\pm\) 0.01 b  \\ iv MF & 2.25 \(\pm\) 0.08 c  & 0.90 \(\pm\) 0.06 c  \\ v MR & ND & 0.87 \(\pm\) 0.01 c  \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}   
Anti-Hair Loss Activities of _E. debile Extracts via the Inhibition of 5\(\alpha\)-Reductase Enzyme_  
Figure 9 and Table 3 show the variation of 5\(\alpha\)-reductase inhibitory capacities of the _E. debile_ extracts, depending on the extraction methods and solvents. The regression equation derived from the finasteride calibration curve was y = 187.84x \(-\) 4.3768, R\({}^{2}\) = 0.9979 and used to compute FEA values. Extracts with a higher FEA value have a stronger inhibitory activity. All extracts showed inhibitions against 5\(\alpha\)-reductase with the FEA values ranging from 0.83 \(\pm\) 0.01 to 1.48 \(\pm\) 0.06 mg finasteride/g extract, representing the inhibitions between 44.59 \(\pm\) 0.40 and 83.07 \(\pm\) 3.46%. Anti-5\(\alpha\)-reductase activities were ranked by FEA values and %inhibition as the following: DF, EF, HF, MF, MR, and CE. The DF displayed the strongest 5\(\alpha\)-reductase inhibition (83.07 \(\pm\) 3.46%). HF and EF showed comparative capacities of inhibitions at 60.86 \(\pm\) 0.39 and 62.45 \(\pm\) 0.83%, respectively. CE, MR, and MF exhibited similar inhibitions at 44.59 \(\pm\) 0.40, 46.99 \(\pm\) 0.34, and 48.60 \(\pm\) 3.27%, respectively. This suggests that the solvent-solvent partitioning method was able to isolate 5\(\alpha\)-reductase inhibitors from CE, particularly by dichloromethane, which is the solvent with a moderate polarity index. The presence of previously reported fatty acids and phytosterols in _E. debile_ might be responsible for 5\(\alpha\)-reductase inhibitory effects. Figure 8: Anti-collagenase activities of _E. debile_ extracts. \({}^{\mathrm{i-v}}\) Successive partition of crude extract (CE) (10.45 \(\pm\) 1.20 g) into hexane fraction (HF), dichloromethane fraction (DF), ethyl acetate fraction (EF), methanol fraction (MF), and methanol insoluble residue (MR). Anti-collagenase activities were expressed as IC\({}_{50}\) (the half maximal inhibitory concentration) of MMP-1 and MMP-2, which are the matrix metalloproteinase type 1 and 2, respectively. All data are presented as mean \(\pm\) SD of triplicates. Figure 9: Anti-5\(\alpha\)-reductase activities of _E. debile_ extracts. \({}^{\mathrm{i-v}}\) Successive partition of crude extract (CE) (10.45 \(\pm\) 1.20 g) into hexane fraction (HF), dichloromethane fraction (DF), ethyl acetate fraction (EF), methanol fraction (MF), and methanol insoluble residue (MR). All data are presented as mean \(\pm\) SD of triplicates. Letters (a, b, and c) indicate significant differences of means between the groups based on [PERSON]’s HSD one-way ANOVA (_p_-value \(<\) 0.05).