Effect of chronic exposure to ultraviolet on skin barrier function / 浙江大学学报·医学版

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of chronic ultraviolet (UV) exposure on skin barrier function and photoaging process.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred and fifty-six volunteers from Hanghzou areas were enrolled in the study. UV-exposed skin areas (neck, dorsum of hand or frontier chest) and UV-unexposed areas (waist, buttock or abdomen) were tested. Probe CM 825 of skin multi-functional detector MPA9 was applied to test the skin water content; probe TM 300 was applied to test transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and probe RVM 600 was applied to detect skin elasticity (Ur/Uf). Relative perfusion unit (PU) of the skin was detected by laser doppler flowmetry (LDF).</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Skin water content value at UV-exposed skin areas was 12.78 ± 2.36 in elderly group (>50y), which was significantly lower than that of UV-unexposed skin areas(23.68 ± 3.24, P= 0.036). Highest level of TEWL (12.98 ± 2.86) g . m(-2) . h(-1) was detected at UV-exposed areas in elderly group; there were trends of increasing TEWL levels at UV-exposed areas than at UV-unexposed areas in all age groups, however, there were no statistical differences (P>0.05). The elasticity of Ur/Uf value at UV-exposed skin areas in elderly group was 0.11 ± 0.07, which was remarkably lower than that of UV-unexposed skin areas (0.32 ± 0.1, P=0.028). No significant difference of skin perfusion was observed between UV-exposed and UV-unexposed areas.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Chronic exposure to UV may damage skin barrier function and therefore play a role in skin photoaging process.</p>