DOI: 10.1084/jem.191.3.561. Sensitivity to Sunburn Is Associated with Susceptibility to Ultraviolet Radiation–Induced Suppression of Cutaneous Cell

Sensitivity to Sunburn Is Associated with Susceptibility to Ultraviolet Radiation–Induced Suppression of Cutaneous Cell–Mediated Immunity

10.1084/jem.191.3.561

Crossref journal-article

Rockefeller University Press

The Journal of Experimental Medicine (291)

Abstract

Skin cancer incidence is highest in white-skinned people. Within this group, skin types I/II (sun sensitive/tan poorly) are at greater risk than skin types III/IV (sun tolerant/tan well). Studies in mice demonstrate that ultraviolet radiation (UVR)-induced suppression of cell-mediated immune function plays an important role in the development of skin cancer and induces a susceptibility to infectious disease. A similar role is suspected in humans, but we lack quantitative human data to make risk assessments of ambient solar exposure on human health. This study demonstrates that ambient levels of solar UVR, typically experienced within 1 h of exposure to noonday summer sunlight, can suppress contact hypersensitivity (CHS) responses in healthy white-skinned humans in vivo (n = 93). There was a linear relationship between increase in erythema and suppression of CHS (P &lt; 0.001), and a moderate sunburn (two minimal erythema doses [2 MED]) was sufficient to suppress CHS in all volunteers by 93%. However, a single suberythemal exposure of either 0.25 or 0.5 MED suppressed CHS responses by 50 and 80%, respectively, in skin types I/II, whereas 1 MED only suppressed CHS by 40% in skin types III/IV. The two- to threefold greater sensitivity of skin types I/II for a given level of sunburn may play a role in their greater sensitivity to skin cancer.

Bibliography

Kelly, D. A., Young, A. R., McGregor, J. M., Seed, P. T., Potten, C. S., & Walker, S. L. (2000). Sensitivity to Sunburn Is Associated with Susceptibility to Ultraviolet RadiationâInduced Suppression of Cutaneous CellâMediated Immunity. The Journal of Experimental Medicine, 191(3), 561â566.

Authors 6

Deirdre A. Kelly (first)
Antony R. Young (additional)
Jane M. McGregor (additional)
Paul T. Seed (additional)
Christopher S. Potten (additional)
Susan L. Walker (additional)

References 22 Referenced 146

10.1016/S0733-8635(18)30064-0 / Dermatol. Clin. / Skin cancer by Armstrong (1995)
10.1016/S1011-1344(98)00182-1 / J. Photochem. Photobiol. B. / Environmental effects of ozone depletion1998 assessment. Changes in biologically active ultraviolet radiation reaching the Earth's surface by Madronich (1998)
{'key': '2023072509015656700_R3', 'first-page': '143', 'article-title': 'The immune system in ultraviolet carcinogenesis', 'volume': '1', 'author': 'Nishigori', 'year': '1996', 'journal-title': 'J. Investig. Dermatol. Symp. Proc'} / J. Investig. Dermatol. Symp. Proc / The immune system in ultraviolet carcinogenesis by Nishigori (1996)
10.1038/bjc.1996.169 / Br. J. Cancer. / Have increases in solar ultraviolet exposure contributed to the rise in incidence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma? by McMichael (1996)
{'key': '2023072509015656700_R5', 'first-page': '153', 'article-title': 'UVR and infectious diseases', 'volume-title': 'Photoimmunology', 'author': 'Jeevan', 'year': '1995'} / Photoimmunology / UVR and infectious diseases by Jeevan (1995)
10.1111/j.1751-1097.1996.tb02454.x / Photochem. Photobiol. / Does exposure to UVR radiation induce a shift to a Th-2-like immune reaction? by Ullrich (1996)
10.1016/0167-5699(96)80606-2 / Immunol. Today. / The expanding universe of T-cell subsetsTh1, Th2 and more by Mosmann (1996)
10.1016/S1011-1344(98)00183-3 / J. Photochem. Photobiol. B. / Environmental effects of ozone depletion1998 assessment. Health risks by Longstreth (1998)
10.1111/1523-1747.ep12349031 / J. Invest. Dermatol. / The in situ repair kinetics of epidermal thymine dimers and 6-4 photoproducts in human skin types I and II by Young (1996)
10.1016/S1011-1344(98)00136-5 / J. Photochem. Photobiol. B. / A single exposure of solar simulated radiation suppresses contact hypersensitivity responses both locally and systemically in humansquantitative studies with high-frequency ultrasound by Kelly (1998)
10.2307/1914031 / Econometrica. / Regression analysis when the dependent variable is truncated normal by Amemiya (1973)
{'key': '2023072509015656700_R12', 'first-page': '71', 'article-title': 'DNA damage, cytokine release and alloantigen presentation in vivo and their relationship to skin type in humans exposed to solar simulated ultraviolet radiation', 'volume': '67', 'author': 'Walker', 'year': '1998', 'journal-title': 'Photochem. Photobiol.'} / Photochem. Photobiol. / DNA damage, cytokine release and alloantigen presentation in vivo and their relationship to skin type in humans exposed to solar simulated ultraviolet radiation by Walker (1998)
10.1111/1523-1747.ep12504877 / J. Invest. Dermatol. / Susceptibility to effects of UVB radiation on induction of contact hypersensitivity as a risk factor for skin cancer in humans by Yoshikawa (1990)
10.1111/1523-1747.ep12484259 / J. Invest. Dermatol. / Effects of ultraviolet B light on cutaneous immune responses of humans with deeply pigmented skin by Vermeer (1991)
10.1111/j.1751-1097.1998.tb09476.x / Photochem. Photobiol. / Susceptibility to effects of UVB irradiation on induction of contact sensitivity, relevance of number and function of Langerhans cells and epidermal macrophages by Skov (1998)
10.1046/j.1365-2133.1998.02358.x / Br. J. Dermatol. / Ultraviolet B suppression of induction of contact sensitivity in human skin is not associated with tumour necrosis factor-alpha-308 or interleukin-10 genetic polymorphisms by Allen (1998)
10.1007/BF00241633 / Immunogenetics. / Genetic basis of the effects of ultraviolet light B on cutaneous immunity. Evidence that polymorphisms at the Tnfa and LPS loci governs susceptibility by Yoshikawa (1990)
10.1111/1523-1747.ep12340683 / J. Invest. Dermatol. / Genetic variation in low-dose UVR-induced suppression of contact hypersensitivity and in the skin photocarcinogenesis response by Yamawaki (1997)
10.1111/1523-1747.ep12665832 / J. Invest. Dermatol. / Ultraviolet B-induced local suppression of contact hypersensitivity is modulated by ultraviolet irradiation and hapten application by Miyauchi (1995)
10.1111/j.1600-079X.1995.tb00184.x / J. Pineal Res. / The influence of season, photoperiod, and pineal melatonin on immune function by Nelson (1995)
10.1016/0923-1811(95)00485-8 / J. Dermatol. Sci. / Regulation of the immune response by epidermal cytokines and neurohormones by Luger (1996)
{'key': '2023072509015656700_R22', 'first-page': '99', 'article-title': 'Immune aspects of sunscreens', 'volume-title': 'Sunscreen Photobiology', 'author': 'Wolf', 'year': '1997'} / Sunscreen Photobiology / Immune aspects of sunscreens by Wolf (1997)

Dates

Type	When
Created	23 years ago (July 26, 2002, 12:48 p.m.)
Deposited	2 years, 1 month ago (July 25, 2023, 6:12 a.m.)
Indexed	4 months, 2 weeks ago (April 6, 2025, 1:24 p.m.)
Issued	25 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 7, 2000)
Published	25 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 7, 2000)
Published Print	25 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 7, 2000)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Kelly_2000, title={Sensitivity to Sunburn Is Associated with Susceptibility to Ultraviolet Radiation–Induced Suppression of Cutaneous Cell–Mediated Immunity}, volume={191}, ISSN={1540-9538}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1084/jem.191.3.561}, DOI={10.1084/jem.191.3.561}, number={3}, journal={The Journal of Experimental Medicine}, publisher={Rockefeller University Press}, author={Kelly, Deirdre A. and Young, Antony R. and McGregor, Jane M. and Seed, Paul T. and Potten, Christopher S. and Walker, Susan L.}, year={2000}, month=feb, pages={561–566} }

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  "abstract": "<jats:p>Skin cancer incidence is highest in white-skinned people. Within this group, skin types I/II (sun sensitive/tan poorly) are at greater risk than skin types III/IV (sun tolerant/tan well). Studies in mice demonstrate that ultraviolet radiation (UVR)-induced suppression of cell-mediated immune function plays an important role in the development of skin cancer and induces a susceptibility to infectious disease. A similar role is suspected in humans, but we lack quantitative human data to make risk assessments of ambient solar exposure on human health. This study demonstrates that ambient levels of solar UVR, typically experienced within 1 h of exposure to noonday summer sunlight, can suppress contact hypersensitivity (CHS) responses in healthy white-skinned humans in vivo (n = 93). There was a linear relationship between increase in erythema and suppression of CHS (P &amp;lt; 0.001), and a moderate sunburn (two minimal erythema doses [2 MED]) was sufficient to suppress CHS in all volunteers by 93%. However, a single suberythemal exposure of either 0.25 or 0.5 MED suppressed CHS responses by 50 and 80%, respectively, in skin types I/II, whereas 1 MED only suppressed CHS by 40% in skin types III/IV. The two- to threefold greater sensitivity of skin types I/II for a given level of sunburn may play a role in their greater sensitivity to skin cancer.</jats:p>",
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