Inhibition of ultraviolet light-induced erythema by antioxidants

✍ Scribed by D. I. Roshchupkin; M. Yu. Pistsov; A. Ya. Potapenko

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1979
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 216 KB
• Volume: 266
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0340-3696
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00412867

✦ Synopsis

In spite of numerous papers devoted to the erythema produced by UV irradiation [1,15], the photochemical basis of this phenomenon is still an open question. It is not even known whether the erythemogenic photochemical process is an oxidative reaction or relates to some other type of phototransformations.

Under UV irradiation photoperoxidation of the chains of unsaturated fatty acids is induced in the skin and in the surface lipids [3,5,6,11,16]. The opinion, based on this fact, was put forward that UV-induced erythema is caused by photoperoxidation of lipids [3]. Lipid photoperoxidation in the membrane structures of cells [8,10,14] and some other photoxidation reactions of biomolecules [7,8] are inhibited by antioxidants. Therefore, one of the possible approaches to the elucidation of the photoxidation role in the UV-induced erythema may be the study of antioxidants' action. Recently, De Rios et al. [2] have found out in experiments with albino hairless mice that the antioxidant BHT (2,6di-t-butyl-4-methyl phenol), when administered systemically or topically applied before the exposure to UV radiation, reduced its erythemic action considerably. However, the connection of this antioxidant effect with possible inhibition of photoxidation reactions remains obscure. In the present paper the effect of antioxidants c~-tocopherol, BHT, and phospholipid phosphatidylcholine (which readily undergoes photoperoxidation under UV irradiation [14]) on the UV lightmediated erythema of rabbit skin was studied.

D,L-c~-Tocopherol and c~-tocopheryl acetate prepared by synthesis, were a gift of Dr. I. K. Sarytcheva of Moscow Institute of Fine Chemical Technology. Commercial BHT was three times recrystallized from hot ethanol. Phosphatidylcholine was isolated from hen's-egg yolk by thin-layer chromatography on silica gel [12]. The samples of phosphatidylcholine used were stored not longer than 72 h under argon at -10 ~ C.