Abstract
Minimal pigmentation dose (MMD) after a single UV-exposure is well investigated. Whereas only few studies have established MMD after multiple UV-exposures and mainly in fair-skinned persons. The purpose of this study was to establish MMD 1 week after, respectively, one and five UV-exposures in volunteers with a large variation in constitutive pigmentation. A total of 52 volunteers (skin Types II–V) had skin pigmentation quantified by reflectance spectroscopy. They were UV-exposed on the back for 1 and 5 days using a Solar Simulator, narrowband UVB, broadband UVA and UVA1. For all sources a higher dose was needed the more pigmented the skin, except for UVA1. After one UV-exposure, we found a significant positive linear correlation between UV-dose to one MMD, skin type and pre-exposure skin pigmentation. After five UV-exposures the positive linear correlation between UV-dose and MMD and skin type was only significant for narrow band UVB, pre-exposure skin pigmentation was significant also for Solar Simulator. For UVA and particularly UVA1 the MMD was independent of pre-exposure pigmentation. The number of SED to MMD is therefore almost the same for very fair-skinned and dark-skinned persons. Pre-exposure pigmentation was clearly more predictive of MMD than skin type. 50% of MMD equals a pigmentation increase of 1%. The shorter the wavelengths the higher the SED to produce MMD. Solar was the least melanogenic and UVA1 the most melanogenic. For the UVB-sources a higher dose was needed the more pigmented the skin. For UVA the MMD was independent of pre-exposure pigmentation.
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Abbreviations
- bUVA:
-
Broadband UVA
- MED:
-
Minimal erythema dose, the UV dose to elicit just perceptible erythema 24 h after a single UV-exposure
- MMD:
-
Minimal melanogenesis dose, the UV dose to elicit just perceptible tanning 7 days after the last UV-exposure. MMD will be expressed in SEDs [7]
- nUVB:
-
Narrowband UVB
- SED:
-
Standard erythema dose, the UV dose that elicits just perceptible erythema in the most sensitive people in a group of very sun-sensitive but otherwise healthy individuals. One SED is defined as 100 J/m2 at 298 nm using the CIE erythema action spectrum
- Solar:
-
Solar simulator
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Acknowledgments
We thank engineers Jacob Heydenreich and Peter Alshede Philipsen, technicians Benedicte Wulf and Trine Ravn and medical students Pernille Fog Svendsen and Malene Rahbek Holm for their help in the project. This work was supported by Unilever, NJ, USA.
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Ravnbak, M.H., Wulf, H.C. Pigmentation after single and multiple UV-exposures depending on UV-spectrum. Arch Dermatol Res 299, 25–32 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-006-0728-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-006-0728-3