Pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate inhibits UVB-induced skin inflammation and oxidative stress in hairless mice and exhibits antioxidant activity in vitro

• PDTC scavenges varied radicals and chelates iron in vitro.
• PDTC reduced UVB induced skin edema, myeloperoxidase activity and MMP-9.
• PDTC reduced UVB-induced IL-1β production.
• PDTC reduced UVB-induced oxidative stress.
• PDTC reduced UVB-induced NFκB activation in keratinocytes.

Ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation may cause oxidative stress- and inflammation-dependent skin cancer and premature aging. Pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) is an antioxidant and inhibits nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation. In the present study, the mechanisms of PDTC were investigated in cell free oxidant/antioxidant assays, in vivo UVB irradiation in hairless mice and UVB-induced NFκB activation in keratinocytes. PDTC presented the ability to scavenge 2,2′-azinobis-(3-ethyl benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical (ABTS), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl radical (DPPH) and hydroxyl radical (OH); and also efficiently inhibited iron-dependent and -independent lipid peroxidation as well as chelated iron. In vivo, PDTC treatment significantly decreased UVB-induced skin edema, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, production of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), increase of reduced glutathione (GSH) levels and antioxidant capacity of the skin tested by the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and ABTS assays. PDTC also reduced UVB-induced IκB degradation in keratinocytes. These results demonstrate that PDTC presents antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in vitro, which line up well with the PDTC inhibition of UVB irradiation-induced skin inflammation and oxidative stress in mice. These data suggest that treatment with PDTC may be a promising approach to reduce UVB irradiation-induced skin damages and merits further pre-clinical and clinical studies.