Recovery from tanning induced by narrow-band UVB phototherapy in brown-skinned individuals with psoriasis: Twelve-month follow-up

Remission period in psoriasis after multiple cycles of narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy

“…Skin tanning recovers over time. In a previous study, it took 10 months for L*, which describes relative lightness, to reach a level that did not differ significantly from the initial value obtained before phototherapy, and 8 months for the individual typology angle, which provides a means to quantitatively classify an individual's skin colour, to approximate the initial angle. Therefore, in this study we assumed that an adequate duration between phototherapy cycles may reinstate the remission period associated with multiple cycles of phototherapy.…”

“…Thus far, no studies have established an association between NB‐UVB phototherapy and increased risk of skin cancer, whereas PUVA therapy has been reported to increase the risk of skin cancer . However, NB‐UVB phototherapy causes skin tanning, which may affect the efficacy of treatment . One report has suggested that NB‐UVB phototherapy should be administrated at least 10 months after the preceding treatment to allow for recovery from tanning …”

“…However, NB‐UVB phototherapy causes skin tanning, which may affect the efficacy of treatment . One report has suggested that NB‐UVB phototherapy should be administrated at least 10 months after the preceding treatment to allow for recovery from tanning …”

Could colorimetric method replace the individual minimal erythemal dose (MED) measurements in determining the initial dose of narrow‐band UVB treatment for psoriasis patients with skin phototype III–V?

“…However, our results demonstrate that there is no significant difference in clinical efficacy and safety between 50% of MED and colorimetric L* value based starting dose regimens. The L* value represents the lightness of an object based on physical measurements of reflected light at specific wavelengths (400–700 nm) corresponding to the spectrum of visible light that uses broad band scanning 7,8 . Out of many bioengineering instruments, the tristimulus colorimeter has been known to be very useful in the quantitative evaluation of skin color 13,14 .…”

The Evolution of Tanning Needs Its Day in the Sun

“…Investigations of persistent changes in pigmentation come predominantly from dermatological research performed in East Asia. Among Korean patients undergoing weekly UVB phototherapy for psoriasis, maximum pigmentation was reached after five weeks of sub-MED exposures (Choe et al 2002) and required 10 weeks to 10 months to return to pre-exposure levels (Jo et al 2006;Suh et al 2007;Kwon et al 2010). The difference in tanning response between European and East Asian individuals has been noted frequently in the dermatological literature, often with the conclusion that the application of the Fitzpatrick scale (Fitzpatrick 1975), which in common practice conflates constitutive pigmentation with tanning response, is not applicable to many East Asian populations.…”