Hydrogen peroxide, one of the reactive oxygen species (ROS), can cause intracellular oxidative stress associated with skin aging and/or photoaging. Curcumin, a polyphenol in turmeric, has been reported to exhibit biological activity. In this study, five naturally occurring curcuminoids [curcumin, demethoxycurcumin (DMC), bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC), monohydroxy-DMC, and monohydroxy-BDMC] were used to investigate their protective roles against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress in the immortalized human keratinocyte cell lines (HaCaT cells). These five curcuminoids at 10 mu M, but not at 5 mu M, were shown to exhibit cytotoxicities toward HaCaT keratinocytes. Therefore, a 5 mu M concentration of the five curcuminoids was selected for further investigations. Cells were pretreated with or without curcuminoids for 2.5 h before 24-h hydrogen peroxide (150 M) treatments. Pretreatments with the minor components monohydroxy-DMC or monohydroxy-BDMC, but not curcumin, DMC, and BDMC, showed protective activity, elevating cell viability compared to cells with direct hydrogen peroxide treatments. Pretreatments with monohydroxy-DMC and monohydroxy-BDMC showed the best protective effects, reducing apoptotic cell populations and intracellular ROS, as demonstrated by flow cytometry, as well as reducing the changes of the mitochondrial membrane potential compared to cells with direct hydrogen peroxide treatments. The pretreatments with monohydroxy-DMC and monohydroxy-BDMC reduced c-jun and c-fos mRNA expression and p53 tumor suppressor protein expression and increased HO-1 protein expression and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity, respectively, compared to cells with direct hydrogen peroxide treatments. The five curcuminoids exhibited similar hydrogen peroxide-scavenging activity in vitro. It was proposed that monohydroxy-DMC and monohydroxy-BDMC could induce antioxidant defense systems better than curcumin, DMC, or BDMC could against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis of HaCaT keratinocytes and that they may have potential as ingredients in antiaging cosmetics for skin care.