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Two‐dimensional imaging of spontaneous ultra‐weak photon emission from the human skin: role of reactive oxygen species
Author(s) -
Prasad Ankush,
Pospišil Pavel
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of biophotonics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.877
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1864-0648
pISSN - 1864-063X
DOI - 10.1002/jbio.201100073
Subject(s) - reactive oxygen species , human skin , oxidative stress , hydrogen peroxide , superoxide , chemistry , antioxidant , biophysics , oxidative phosphorylation , oxygen , hydroxyl radical , two photon excitation microscopy , photochemistry , biochemistry , enzyme , fluorescence , biology , optics , organic chemistry , genetics , physics
In the human skin, reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced continuously during oxidative metabolic processes (cellular respiration, oxidative burst) are essential for various cellular processes such as defense against infection, cellular signaling and apoptosis. On the other hand, when the formation of ROS exceeds a capacity of the non‐enzymatic and the enzymatic antioxidant defense system, ROS cause the damage to the human skin known to initiate premature skin aging and skin cancer. In this study, two‐dimensional spontaneous ultra‐weak photon emission from the human skin has been measured using a highly sensitive charged coupled device (CCD) camera. It is demonstrated here that two‐dimensional ultra‐weak photon emission from the human skin increases with the topical application of exogenous ROS in the following order: hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) < superoxide anion radical (O 2 •– ) < hydroxyl radical (HO • ). We propose here that the two‐dimensional ultra‐weak photon emission can be used as a non‐invasive tool for the spatial and temporal monitoring of oxidative stress in the human skin. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)