Effectiveness of antioxidants (vitamin C and E) with and without sunscreens as topical photoprotectants.

Abstract

Considerable interest has been recently generated concerning the use of natural compounds, anti-oxidants in particular, in photoprotection. Two of the best known anti-oxidants are vitamins C and E, both of which have been shown to be somewhat effective in different models of photodamage. Very little has been reported, however, on the effectiveness of a combination of the two (known to be biologically the more relevant situation); nor have there been detailed studies on the ability of these antioxidants to augment commercial sunscreen protection against UV damage. We report that (in swine skin) vitamin C is capable of additive protection against acute UVB damage (sunburn cell formation) when combined with a UVB sunscreen. A combination of both vitamins E and C provided very good protection from a UVB insult, the bulk of the protection attributable to vitamin E. However, vitamin C is significantly better than vitamin E at protecting against a UVA-mediated phototoxic insult in this animal model, while the combination is only slightly more effective than vitamin C alone. When vitamin C or a combination of vitamin C and E is formulated with a commercial UVA sunscreen (oxybenzone), an apparently greater than additive protection is noted against the phototoxic damage. These results confirm the utility of anti-oxidants as photoprotectants but suggest the importance of combining the compounds with known sunscreens to maximize photoprotection.

• Authors: D Darr, S Dunston, H Faust, S Pinnell
• Journal: Acta dermato-venereologica (Acta Derm Venereol) Vol. 76 Issue 4 Pg. 264-8 (Jul 1996) ISSN: 0001-5555 [Print] Sweden
• PMID: 8869680 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Antioxidants
• Benzophenones
• Dermatologic Agents
• Drug Combinations
• Pharmaceutical Vehicles
• Propylene Glycols
• Sunscreening Agents
• Vitamin E
• Propylene Glycol
• Cellulose
• oxybenzone
• hydroxypropylcellulose
• Ascorbic Acid

Topics

• Administration, Cutaneous
• Animals
• Antioxidants (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Ascorbic Acid (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Benzophenones (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Cellulose (analogs & derivatives)
• Dermatologic Agents (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Disease Models, Animal
• Drug Combinations
• Drug Synergism
• Male
• Pharmaceutical Vehicles
• Propylene Glycol
• Propylene Glycols
• Radiation Protection
• Skin (pathology, radiation effects)
• Skin Aging (drug effects, pathology)
• Sunburn (etiology, pathology, prevention & control)
• Sunscreening Agents (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Swine
• Ultraviolet Rays (adverse effects, classification)
• Vitamin E (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)