Patent ID: 7700080

Claim:
A method of suppressing melanin production in human skin comprising, topically administering to a human an effective amount of an N-(6,8-dimercaptooctanoyl)amino acid metal chelate compound represented by the following formula (I), wherein M denotes a zinc, and A denotes an amino acid which is bound via the amino acid nitrogen; or a pharmacologically acceptable salt thereof, wherein the amino acid is selected from the group consisting of aminomethylcyclohexanoic acid, anthranilic acid, aminoethanesulfonic acid, glycine, alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, seine, threonine, tyrosine, cysteine, methionine, aspartic acid, asparagine, glutamic acid, glutamine, arginine, lysine, histidine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, β-alanine, γ-amino-n-butyric acid, carnitine, 5-aminolevulinic acid, 5-aminovaleric acid, and 6-aminohexanoic acid, wherein the human is in need of suppression of melanin production.