The proliferative and toxic effects of ultraviolet light and inflammation on epidermal pigment cells.

The ear of the mouse is useful for studying the effects of ultraviolet light on epidermal pigment cells. The quantity of light penetrating into the skin causing an inflammatory response can be assessed easily by measuring with an engineering calipers the swelling of the ear. The inflammatory response of the ear exhibits a linear relationship to the dose of light delivered. We observed that doses of shortwave ultraviolet light which are noninflammatory when repeated at daily intervals induce moderate to severe inflammation. Small doses of psoralen and prolonged exposure to UVA (PUVA) were more inflammatory than larger amounts of psoralen and short exposure to light. Doses of shortwave ultraviolet light and PUVA which produce only a minimal inflammation of the skin stimulate the proliferation of epidermal melanocytes. In contrast, PUVA in doses sufficiently large to cause a marked inflammatory reaction in the skin seems injurious to pigment cells and kills them or causes only a minimal proliferative response. The inflammatory reaction itself does not seem to stimulate or inhibit the proliferation of melanocytes. Prostaglandins A, E, and F2 alpha have no effect on the proliferation of epidermal pigment cells. In contrast, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and allergic contact dermatitis increase the numerical density of pigment cells. Steroids may block the function of the enzyme tyrosinase. Our experiments indicate that pigment cells, like many other varieties of cells, are susceptible to injury and can be killed at least by large doses of PUVA.