title: Protection from sunburn with beta-Carotene--a meta-analysis.
abstract: Nutritional protection against skin damage from sunlight is increasingly advocated to the general public, but its effectiveness is controversial. In this meta-analysis, we have systematically reviewed the existing literature on human supplementation studies on dietary protection against sunburn by beta-carotene. A review of literature until June 2007 was performed in PubMed, ISI Web of Science and EBM Cochrane library and identified a total of seven studies which evaluated the effectiveness of beta-carotene in protection against sunburn. Data were abstracted from these studies by means of a standardized data collection protocol. The subsequent meta-analysis showed that (1) beta-carotene supplementation protects against sunburn and (2) the study duration had a significant influence on the effected size. Regression plot analysis revealed that protection required a minimum of 10 weeks of supplementation with a mean increase of the protective effect of 0.5 standard deviations with every additional month of supplementation. Thus, dietary supplementation of humans with beta-carotene provides protection against sunburn in a time-dependent manner.
authors: Department of Medical Informatics and Biomathematics, Münster University Hospital, Münster, Germany.
authors: Wolfgang
authors: W
authors: Köpcke
authors: Jean
authors: J
authors: Krutmann
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D013471:Sunburn / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D019207:beta Carotene