In vivo Raman spectroscopic analysis of the influence of UV radiation on carotenoid antioxidant substance degradation of the human skin

It is well known from the literature that carotenoid antioxidant substances decrease after the irradiation of the skin with UV light. Available literature has shown no information about the response time and total dynamics of degradation of carotenoid antioxidants after UV irradiation. The measurements were made with the HPLC method, which is time-consuming and does not give relevant information about the dynamics of degradation of carotenoids in the skin after UV irradiation. With the introduction of new noninvasive spectroscopic methods, it became possible to measure in vivo the behavior of carotenoid antioxidant substances, such as beta-carotene and lycopene in the skin after UV light exposure. In the present study, the resonance Raman spectroscopy method was used as a fast and noninvasive optical method to measure the dynamics of degradation of beta-carotene and lycopene in living human skin after UV exposure. It was found that the beta-carotene and lycopene concentration in the skin does not decrease immediately after UV irradiation. There is a time delay, which varies from 30 up to 90 min for beta-carotene and from 0 up to 30 min for lycopene. A strong nonlinear correlation between the individual antioxidant level of volunteers and the magnitude of destruction of antioxidants in the skin was found.