title: UVB 311 nm tolerance of vitiligo skin increases with skin photo type.
abstract: It is assumed that skin is protected against sunburn by melanin. In patients with vitiligo, there are white patches in the normal pigmented skin. We noticed that there is a difference in burning capacity of these white patches between people with different skin types. With UVB 311 nm lamps, we irradiated both lesional and non-lesional skin with increasing doses in 33 patients with vitiligo, divided into 5 groups according to skin type (II-VI). Twenty-four hours later we assessed the minimal erythema dose and found a correlation between skin type and UV sensitivity in both lesional skin and normal skin. We suggest that there must be a protection mechanism, other than that offered by melanin pigmentation. The antioxidant status may play a role in this phenomenon.
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Institute for Pigment Disorders, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Schreinemachers@amc.uva.nl
authors.forename: Anne-Lou D B
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Caron-Schreinemachers
authors.forename: Melanie M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Kingswijk
authors.forename: Jan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Bos
authors.forename: Wiete
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Westerhof
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D004890:Erythema / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011836:Radiation Tolerance; D012880:Skin Pigmentation / Q000528:radiation effects*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014820:Vitiligo / Q000150:complications*