UV/induced alterations in skin and lymphocytes during a one/week holiday in the Canary Islands in May.

Abstract

The effect of solar exposure during a one/week sunbathing vacation in May at 29 degrees N latitude was investigated in 22 volunteers. The following end/points were measured before and after the holiday: skin reflectance at 507 nm, transmission of radiation from 289 nm to 448 nm through the epidermis, epidermal thickness, minimal erythema dose (MED), total white cell, neutrophil, lymphocyte, and lymphocyte subpopulation counts in blood, spontaneous DNA synthesis, DNA strand breaks and sister/chromatid exchange in lymphocytes, and the UVC tolerance of lymphocytes. There was a statistically significant decrease in skin reflectance (p < 0.001) and epidermal transmission (p < 0.01) after the holiday, reflecting increased pigmentation and epidermal thickening. There was a statistically significant increase in epidermal thickness (p < 0.001), MED (p < 0.05), spontaneous DNA synthesis (p < 0.01) and DNA strand breaks in lymphocytes (p < 0.02) after the holiday. The other end/points were not significantly changed. We report that changes in skin pigmentation and epidermal thickness occur after one week of UV exposure. It was also observed that a one/week UV exposure increased both spontaneous DNA repair and the amount of DNA strand breaks in the lymphocytes of the volunteers, while no changes in T/cell subsets were detected.