Ultraviolet radiation causes less immunosuppression in patients with polymorphic light eruption than in controls

Palmer, Roy A. and Friedmann, Peter S. (2004) Ultraviolet radiation causes less immunosuppression in patients with polymorphic light eruption than in controls. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 122 (2), 291-294. (doi:10.1046/j.0022-202X.2004.22213.x).

Abstract

It is hypothesized that polymorphic light eruption is characterized by a partial failure of ultraviolet radiation-induced immunosuppression, resulting in a delayed-type hypersensitivity response to photo-induced antigens. We aimed to study the susceptibility of PLE patients to UVR-induced immunosuppression, by measuring the strength of sensitization to 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene after UVR exposure, and to diphenylcyclopropenone without UVR exposure, in subjects with PLE and controls. Thirteen PLE patients and 11 controls were exposed to 1 minimum erythema dose (MED) of UVR delivered from Waldmann UV-6 bulbs to the upper inner arm. Twenty-four hours later at the same site they were exposed to a sensitizing dose of 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene. One week later they were exposed to a sensitizing dose of diphenylcyclopropenone at a nonirradiated site. Three weeks later all subjects were challenged with four doses of 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene and four doses of diphenylcyclopropenone. The resulting increase in skin thickness was measured with Harpenden callipers and summed over the four doses, to give a single value representing the reactivity of the subject to 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (ΣDN) and diphenylcyclopropenone (ΣDP). Among all subjects, there was a very strong correlation between ΣDN and ΣDP (Pearson correlation 0.56, p=0.004). The strength of the reaction to 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene relative to the reaction to diphenylcyclopropenone was significantly greater among PLE patients than controls (p=0.04 independent samples t test of ΣDP–ΣDN). We conclude that induction of sensitization by 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene is suppressed less by UVR in patients with PLE than in healthy controls.

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