Annu Rev Nutr. 2004;24:173-200. Links
Nutritional protection against skin damage from sunlight.
Sies H, Stahl W.
Institut fur Biochemie und Molekularbiologie I, Heinrich-Heine-Universitat Dusseldorf, D-40001
Dusseldorf, Germany. sies@uni-duesseldorf.de
The concept of systemic photoprotection by dietary means is
gaining momentum. Skin is continuously exposed to ultraviolet
(UV) radiation, the major cause of skin disorders such as
sunburn, photodamage, and nonmelanoma skin cancer. Most
of the erythemal annual UV dose is encountered under
nonvacation conditions, when no sunscreen is applied. In the
absence of topically added compounds, skin protection
depends solely on endogenous defense. Micronutrients can act
as UV absorbers, as antioxidants, or can modulate signaling
pathways elicited upon UV exposure. UV-induced erythema is
a suitable parameter to assess photoprotection. Dietary
protection is provided by carotenoids, tocopherols, ascorbate,
flavonoids, or n-3 fatty acids, contributing to maintenance
resistance as part of lifelong protection.