natural products that contain an inhibitor of the f3k enzyme and / or a 3dg inactivator may be used to advantage for treating or preventing conditions or disease states that are linked to 3dg which is produced as a by - product of f3k activity . the disease states that may be treated or prevented by the methods of the invention include inflammatory disorders , complications of diabetes , diseases of aging , hypertension , stroke , neurodegenerative disorders , circulatory disease , atherosclerosis , osteoarthritis and cataracts . the method described herein may also be used for the treatment or prophylaxis of skin conditions , particularly those associated with intrinsic or extrinsic aging . intrinsic aging of the skin is the gradual deterioration that results from the normal aging process , which produces change in the chemical structure of proteins , including collagen and elastin , due , in part , to the formation of ages . a number of extrinsic factors , often acting in conjunction with the normal aging process , cause premature aging of the skin . most extrinsic aging is brought about by sun exposure or “ photoaging ”; however , other factors , such as repetitive facial expressions and smoking can contribute to such premature aging . a variety of different natural products can be used for treating or preventing a condition or disease state that is alleviated by inhibiting the enzymatic conversion of fructoselysine to fructoselysine - 3 - phosphate and / or by inactivating 3dg in vivo . the term “ natural product ”, as used herein , refers to a chemical substance found in nature , such as a substance obtained from tissues of terrestrial plants , marine animals or plants , and other living organisms , as well as derivatives of such substances . representative examples of natural products ( and extracts thereof ) which may be used in the practice of this invention include materials of plant and animal origin , polypeptides , oligopeptides , vitamins , provitamins and the like . natural product extracts are commercially available from various sources and may be prepared using the extraction methods generally described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 485 , 756 to aust and wilmott . natural products suitable for practicing this invention can be identified using the f3k assay described hereinbelow . the results of performing this assay on a wide range of natural products are as set forth in tables 1 and 1a , below . alternative assays for determining f3k inhibitory activity , by direct measurement of fructoselysine - 3 - phosphate production , are described in the aforementioned u . s . pat . no . 6 , 004 , 958 . supplemental active agents may be administered in conjunction with the natural products described herein , if desired . suitable supplemental active agents include , by way of example , anesthetics , antibiotics , anti - allergenics , anti - fungals , antiseptics , anti - irritants , anti - inflammatory agents , anti - microbials , analgesics and anti - hypertensive agents , e . g ., ace inhibitors . the natural products described herein , along with any supplemental active agent ( s ), may be administered using any amount and any route of administration effective to inhibit enzymatic 3dg production . the exact amount to be administered may vary depending on the species , age , and general condition of the patient , the nature of the condition or disease state being treated , the specific natural product used and its mode of administration . as used herein , the term “ patient ” refers to animals , including mammals , preferably humans and domestic animals . the effectiveness of the amount of natural product administered to a patient can be assessed by feeding to the patient , either human or animal , a food rich in glycated lysine residues or fl and measuring the amount of 3dg and 3df in their urine , both before and after feeding . patients that have an effective inhibitory amount of f3k inhibitor in their systems will exhibit decreased secretion of both 3dg and / or 3df and increased urinary secretion of fl , as compared to levels secreted by the same patients prior to administration of the natural product ( s ). the natural products used in the practice of this invention are commonly available in powder form . as such , they may readily be formulated for topical or oral administration , topical administration being preferred . topical formulations including any of various dermatologically acceptable excipients may be prepared in the form of an emulsion , a cream , a balm , a gloss , a lotion , a salve , a mask , a serum , a toner , an ointment , an oil , a mousse , a gel , a pomade , a solution , a liquid spray , a wax - based stick or a towelette . such formulations may beneficially include any ingredient conventionally used in the cosmetics field . these ingredients include preservatives , aqueous phase thickeners , fatty - phase thickeners , fragrances , hydrophilic and lipophilic active agents , as well as pigments , fillers , oils , one or more waxes or gums , or mixtures of any of the foregoing . in addition , the aforementioned formulations may include one or more of the following : a skin penetration enhancer , a dermal delivery system , an emollient , a skin plumper , an optical diffuser , a sunscreen , an exfoliation promoter and an antioxidant . a dermal delivery system may be liposomes , nanosomes , phosopholipid - based non - liposome compositions ( e . g ., selected cochleates ), among others . details with respect to these and other suitable cosmetic ingredients can be found in the international cosmetic ingredient dictionary and handbook ( icid ), 10 th ed ., cosmetic , toiletry and fragrance association , at 2177 - 2299 ( 2004 ). these natural products can also be incorporated into a transdermal patch or similar delivery system . the transdermal patch can be of conventional construction , e . g ., of the type used to deliver sustained doses of estrogen , nitroglycerine , fentenyl , or the like . in other embodiments of the invention , the benefits of 3dg - containing natural products for use as food , cosmetic , pharmaceutical or dietary supplement ingredients can be enhanced by purifying or refining processes that reduce the 3dg content thereof . the 3dg concentration of natural products can be determined using the measurement technique described in example 2 , below . the purification or refining processing contemplated by the present invention involves admixture of the natural product with at least one 3dg inactivating agent . representative examples of suitable 3dg inactivating agents are listed in table 3 , below . arginine is a preferred 3dg inactivating agent for use in practicing this embodiment of the invention . in view of the potential harmful health effects of 3dg , any measurable reduction in the 3dg content of natural products used as food , cosmetic , pharmaceutical , or dietary supplement ingredients will provide a benefit . this same method can be utilized to reduce the 3dg content of foods , food additives or beverages , such as carbonated beverages , which may be fermented ( e . g ., beer , ale or the like ) or not ( e . g ., colas ), as well as non - carbonated beverages , which may be fermented ( e . g ., wine ) or not ( e . g ., fruit juice , fruit punch , vegetable juice or tea ). the following methodologies and experimental data are provided to describe the various embodiments of the invention in further detail . these methods and data are provided for illustrative purposes only and should in no way be construed as limiting the invention . fructosamine - 3 - kinase ( f3k ) phosphorylates fructoselysine to form fructoselysine - 3 - p , which spontaneously decomposes to give lysine , pi , and 3dg . the assay is performed in a 96 - well plate , with each well containing 100 μl of 50 mm hepes , ph 8 . 0 , 1 mm mg - atp , and 0 . 20 mm fructoselysine ( dynamis therapeutics ). five μl of test inhibitor sample was added and the reaction initiated with 120 nm human recombinant f3k enzyme ( dynamis therapeutics ). the plate was incubated at 37 ° c . for 24 hours to allow f3k to produce fl3p and then to decompose releasing pi and 3dg . 3dg was measured as in example 2 . aqueous extracts were prepared from various commercially available natural products . concentrations of the resulting extracts are given below on a weight - per - weight basis , unless otherwise indicated . lfk extract and powder is from lysed enterococcus faecalis fk - 23 . fresh fruits and vegetable extracts were made in a juicer machine ( juiceman automatic juice extractor ). strawberry leaf extract ( 50 % w / w in water ) was similarly made . samples were allowed to settle or were centrifuged ( 12 , 000 × g , 10 min ) before removing an aliquot of the supernatant for analysis . f3k activity was measured in the presence of various natural product extracts using the above - described assay . the percent inhibition is shown in tables 1 and 1a . extracts from chestnut skin , lychee seed , grapeseed , gooseberry , peanut skin , cat &# 39 ; s claw and rose inhibited f3k activity by more than 90 %. the results are set forth in table 3 . several chemicals and natural product extracts showed 3dg inactivating activity . samples with the most amount of 3dg inactivating activity were arginine , clam extract , chestnut skin extract , pig and fish collagens , pyridoxal - 5 ′- phosphate , grapeseed extract , lychee seed extract , peanut skin extract and cat &# 39 ; s claw extract . most of the chestnut skin 3dg inactivating activity was in the supernatant after centrifugation . some samples showed high intrinsic levels of 3dg including chitosan l , glucosamine , rafuma extract , broccoli extract and herb mixture . 3dg levels were measured in various brand name beverages and foods ; results are shown in table 4 . miso soup , soy sauce and all non - alcoholic beverages except diet soda and one brand of green tea contain high levels of 3dg (& gt ; 50 μm ). all beers contain & gt ; 300 μm 3dg and dark beers contain the highest levels of 3dg (& gt ; 600 μm ). plum wine contained high levels of 3dg and red wine had relatively low levels of 3dg . a number of patent and non - patent publications are cited in the foregoing specification in order to describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains . the entire disclosure of each of these publications is incorporated by reference herein . while certain of the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described and specifically exemplified above , it is not intended that the invention be limited to such embodiments . various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention , as set forth in the following claims . furthermore , the transitional terms “ comprising ”, “ consisting essentially of ” and “ consisting of ” define the scope of the appended claims , in original and amended form , with respect to what unrecited additional claim elements or steps , if any , are excluded from the scope of the claims . the term “ comprising ” is intended to be inclusive or open - ended and does not exclude additional , unrecited elements , methods step or materials . the phrase “ consisting of ” excludes any element , step or material other than those specified in the claim , and , in the latter instance , impurities ordinarily associated with the specified materials . the phrase “ consisting essentially of ” limits the scope of a claim to the specified elements , steps or materials and those that do not materially affect the basic and novel characteristic ( s ) of the claimed invention . all compositions or formulations identified herein can , in alternate embodiments , be more specifically defined by any of the transitional phases “ comprising ”, “ consisting essentially of ” and “ consisting of ”.
compositions are disclosed which have as a component thereof an inhibitor of the enzymatic production of 3 - deoxyglucosone from fructoselysine and / or an inactivator of 3dg , and which are useful for the treatment or prophylaxis of a condition or disease state that is alleviated by inhibiting such 3dg production . methods of using such compositions , e . g ., for improving the appearance , texture and / or elasticity of aging skin , are also disclosed .