The effect of ultraviolet radiation on the anti-inflammatory effect of filters

• Some organic UV-filters have anti-inflammatory properties.
• Oxybenzone retains a constant anti-inflammatory character before and after UV-irradiation.
• The same phenomenon is observed in the case of commercial sunscreens.

A certain number of filters have notable anti-inflammatory properties with percentage inhibition of PMA-induced edema in mice at over 70%. The question arose as to whether this effect was likely to continue after UV irradiation. It can be noted that 7 filters retain an equivalent anti-inflammatory effect before and after 2 h of irradiation in a Suntest device (650 W/m2). For 9 filters, the anti-inflammatory effect decreases and for 5 filters, the anti-inflammatory effect increases. Various behaviors should be noted. 3 groups of substances can be distinguished: such as phenylbenzimidazole sulfonic acid which loses its anti-inflammatory character after irradiation (the percentage inhibition falls from 80 to 44%), oxybenzone which retains a constant anti-inflammatory character (89% inhibition before and after irradiation and also octyl methoxycinnamate which becomes very anti-inflammatory (with a percentage inhibition of 93%). The same phenomenon is observed in the case of commercial products. This should be made known as it can have a considerable impact on the results which are displayed on the packaging of sun products.

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