Effects of solar radiation on cutaneous detoxification pathways

Because of its accessibility the human skin is constantly exposed to solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation. It is increasingly appreciated that exposure of the mammalian skin to UV plays a causal and decisive role in acute and chr onic skin damage including the development of skin cancer. UV exposure caus es sunburn, pigmentation, hyperplasia, immunosuppression, DNA damage, photo aging and photocarcinogenesis. To cope with constant environmental damage t he skin possesses elaborate enzymatic detoxification systems. This paper br iefly focuses on the effect of solar radiation, particularly UV spectrum, o n detoxification pathways in the skin. Specifically the effect of solar rad iation on cytochrome P450, glutathione, superoxide dismutase, glutathione p eroxidase, catalase, glutathione-S-transferase and ceruloplasmin has been d iscussed. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.