definitions of important terms are included herein below to facilitate better understanding of the purpose and the scope of the present invention . a ) cosmetic — sec . 201 . [ 21 u . s . c . 321 ] ( i ), chapter ii of the federal food , drug , and cosmetic act ( u . s . food and drug administration ) defines “ cosmetic ” as ( 1 ) articles intended to be rubbed , poured , sprinkled , or sprayed on , introduced into , or otherwise applied to the human body or any part thereof for cleansing , beautifying , promoting attractiveness , or altering the appearance , and ( 2 ) articles intended for use as a component of any such articles ; except that such term shall not include soap . b ) drug — sec . 201 . [ 21 u . s . c . 321 ] ( g ) ( 1 ), chapter ii of the federal food , drug , and cosmetic act ( u . s . food and drug administration ) defines “ drugs ” by their intended use , as ( a ) articles recognized in the official united states pharmacopeia , official homeopathic pharmacopeia of the united states , or official national formulary , or any supplement to any of them ; and ( b ) articles intended for use in the diagnosis , cure , mitigation , treatment , or prevention of disease in man or other animals ; and ( c ) articles ( other than food ) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other animals ; and ( d ) articles intended for use as a component of any articles specified in clause ( a ), ( b ), or ( c ). a food or dietary supplement for which a claim , subject to sections 403 ( r )( 1 )( b ) and 403 ( r )( 3 ) or sections 403 ( r )( 1 )( b ) and 403 ( r )( 5 )( d ), is made in accordance with the requirements of section 403 ( r ) is not a drug solely because the label or the labeling contains such a claim . a food , dietary ingredient , or dietary supplement for which a truthful and not misleading statement is made in accordance with section 403 ( r )( 6 ) is not a drug under clause ( c ) solely because the label or the labeling contains such a statement . c ) acne — a chronic disorder characterized by excess production of oil from sebaceous glands causing of the hair follicles to become plugged . pimples , papules , pustules and comedone , ( black heads and white heads ) cysts , infected abscesses , and sometimes scarring are the lesions to be treated in acne . d ) matrix metalloproteinases — a member of a group of enzymes that can break down proteins , such as collagen , that are normally found in the spaces between cells in tissues ( i . e ., extracellular matrix proteins ). because these enzymes need zinc or calcium atoms to work properly , they are called metalloproteinases . matrix metalloproteinases are involved in wound healing , angiogenesis , and tumor cell metastasis . e ) cyclooxygenases — cyclooxygenase ( cox ) catalyzes the initial step of arachidonic acid metabolism and prostaglandin production . cox activity has been found to be associated with two distinct isoenzymes , cox - 1 and cox - 2 . cox - 1 is hypothesized to be involved in the maintenance of physiologic functions such as gastric protection and hemostasis , whereas cox - 2 is thought to be involved in patho - physiologic processes such as inflammation , pain , and fever . in the most preferred embodiments , the present invention relates to new therapeutic uses of naturally occurring poly isoprenylated benzophenone derivatives . in particular , the present invention describes a ) a new use of known naturally occurring polyprenylated benzophenone derivatives as therapeutic agents for the prevention / treatment / amelioration / cure / mitigation of pathological symptoms associated with acne , boils and pimples through the exertion of an anti - microbial effect towards acne causing bacteria . more preferably , the acne causing bacteria is the anaerobic bacterium propionibacterium acnes ; b ) a new use of known naturally occurring polyprenylated benzophenone derivatives useful as therapeutic agents for the prevention / treatment / amelioration / cure / mitigation of pathological symptoms associated with the over - expression and hyper - activities of matrix metalloproteinase enzymes ; c ) a new use of known naturally occurring polyprenylated benzophenone derivatives useful as therapeutic agents for the prevention / treatment / amelioration / cure / mitigation of pathological symptoms associated with the over - expression and hyper - activities of cyclooxygenase - 2 ( cox - 2 ) enzyme . a ) drug compositions / medicaments comprising effective concentrations of naturally occurring polyprenylated benzophenone derivatives useful as therapeutic agents for the prevention / treatment / amelioration / cure / mitigation of pathological symptoms associated with acne , boils and pimples . in a preferred embodiment , the said drug compositions / medicaments exert an anti - microbial effect towards acne causing bacteria . more preferably , the said drug compositions / medicaments exert an anti - microbial effect towards anaerobic bacterium propionibacterium acnes ; b ) drug compositions / medicaments comprising effective concentrations of naturally occurring polyprenylated benzophenone derivatives useful as therapeutic agents for the prevention / treatment / amelioration / cure / mitigation of pathological symptoms associated with the over - expression and hyper - activities of matrix metalloproteinase enzymes ; c ) drug compositions / medicaments comprising effective concentrations of naturally occurring polyprenylated benzophenone derivatives useful as therapeutic agents for the prevention / treatment / amelioration / cure / mitigation of pathological symptoms associated with the over - expression and hyper - activities of cyclooxygenase - 2 ( cox - 2 ) enzyme . d ) drug compositions / medicaments comprising effective concentrations of naturally occurring polyprenylated benzophenone derivatives useful as therapeutic agents which offer tremendous potential towards “ health care ”, in lieu of their newly evaluated novel biological properties . in preferred embodiments , the drug compositions / medicaments referred herein above have effective concentrations of naturally occurring poly isoprenylated benzophenone derivatives from about 0 . 001 %- 10 % w / w . more preferably , the drug compositions / medicaments referred herein above have effective concentrations of naturally occurring poly isoprenylated benzophenone derivatives from about 0 . 1 %- 5 % w / w . the new uses of naturally occurring poly isoprenylated benzophenones as mentioned herein above have been deduced from a careful evaluation of novel biological properties of the said molecules . the experimental evaluation of the aforesaid biological properties and the associated results has been mentioned herein below as specific examples . propionibacterium acnes was cultured in an anaerobic chamber ( coy laboratory , usa with an automatic lock purge system ). the growth standardization was ensured by culturing the organism in different culture media . the anaerobic conditions were ensured initially with nitrogen gas and then a mixture of nitrogen , hydrogen and carbon dioxide in a ratio of 80 : 10 : 10 . a two gas tank arrangement was made wherein only nitrogen was connected to the transfer chamber and the mixed gas to the main chamber using gassing manifold ( hrishi biotech . pune , india ). the anaerobic media were prepared by heating the media while passing the mixture of gases nitrogen and carbon dioxide in a ratio of 4 : 1 simultaneously . a redox indicator reazurin = 0 . 001 % was added to the media . the indicator is colorless in an anaerobic environ and turns blue otherwise . it was dispensed to 30 ml , 20 ml and 10 ml vials sealed with rubber and aluminium clamps and sterilized by autoclaving at 121 ° c . for 15 minutes . propionibacterium acnes atcc 11827 was sub cultured from broth cultures into vials containing fresh medium . the cultures were then incubated for 48 hours at 37 ° c . the optical density of the culture at 625 nm was maintained between 0 . 64 and 0 . 80 which corresponded to approximately 12 × 10 6 cells / ml ( 4 . 0 mc mc farland standard ). the anti - microbial susceptibility testing was carried on reinforced clostridial agar ( rca ). 0 . 3 ml of p . acnes culture was inoculated into the culture plates . culture plates were impregnated with disks comprising varying concentrations of the test naturally occuring poly isoprenylated benzophenone derivatives . the plates were incubated in anaerobic chambers at 37 ° c . for 48 hours . the test naturally occuring poly isoprenylated benzophenone derivatives were prepared with dmso as vehicle . the controls included dmso and clindac a ( clindamycin phosphate gel 1 % w / w ). the zone of inhibition was measured and expressed in mm . ( table i ) principle : the substrate dq gelatin ( from pig skin ), fluorescein conjugate — gelatin is efficiently digested by most of the collagenases to yield highly fluorescent peptides . the increase in fluorescence is proportional to proteolytic activity and the fluorescence is quenched in the presence of inhibitor . the reduction in fluorescence intensity was measured in a microplate reader ( emission wavelength : 485 nm and excitation wavelength : 520 nm .) methodology : varying concentrations of the test material were pre - incubated for 10 minutes with the substrate dq gelatin . collagenase type iv from clostridium histolyticum enzyme was then added and the fluorescence intensity was measured after 30 minutes ( em : 485 nm and ex : 520 nm .). ic 50 of garcinol is 99 . 85 μg / ml . 95 % confidence limit — 74 to 135 μg / ml . principle : the assays were done using the enzchek elastase assay kit . the substrate is dq elastin soluble bovine neck ligament . dq elastin is labeled with bodipy fl dye . the non - fluorescent substrate can be digested by elastase to yield highly fluorescent fragments and in the presence of inhibitor , the fluorescence intensity is quenched . the fluorescence intensity was measured in a microplate reader ( emission at 485 nm and excitation at 520 nm .) methodology : varying concentrations of the test material were pre - incubated for 10 minutes with the substrate dq gelatin . elastase from pig pancreas enzyme was then added and the fluorescence intensity was measured after 30 minutes ( em : 485 nm and ex : 520 nm .). principle : the cox inhibitor screening assay was performed using the cox inhibitory kit from cayman chemical company ( catalog no . 560101 ) by enzyme immuno assay method . methodology : enzyme ( cox - 1 ) is allowed to react on substrate arachidonate in presence & amp ; absence of the inhibitor . the amount of prostaglandins ( pgf2 ) produced by stannous chloride reduction of cox - derived pgfh2 are estimated by eia ( cayman ) using a broadly specific antibody that binds to all major prostaglandin compounds . the decrease in pgs released in presence of inhibitor is directly proportional to inhibition . while the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment , it is to be clearly understood by those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited thereto . rather , the scope of the invention is to be interpreted only in conjunction with the appended claims .
disclosed are novel therapeutic properties including anti - microbial activity towards acne causing bacteria ; strong anti - matrix metalloproteinase activity ; and anti - cyclooxygenase 2 activities of naturally occurring poly isoprenylated benzophenone derivatives . also disclosed are novel applications of naturally occurring polyisoprenylated benzophenones as drugs / medicaments for treating or preventing the pathological symptoms associated with acne , boils and pimples ; enhanced activity of matrix metalloproteinase enzyme ; and enhanced activity of cyclooxygenase - 2 enzyme .