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Advances in Experimental Medicine and... 2020Vitamin D is the sunshine vitamin for good reason. During exposure to sunlight, the ultraviolet B photons enter the skin and photolyze 7-dehydrocholesterol to previtamin... (Review)
Review
Vitamin D is the sunshine vitamin for good reason. During exposure to sunlight, the ultraviolet B photons enter the skin and photolyze 7-dehydrocholesterol to previtamin D which in turn is isomerized by the body's temperature to vitamin D. Most humans have depended on sun for their vitamin D requirement. Skin pigment, sunscreen use, aging, time of day, season, and latitude dramatically affect previtamin D synthesis. Vitamin D deficiency was thought to have been conquered, but it is now recognized that more than 50% of the world's population is at risk for vitamin D deficiency. This deficiency is in part due to the inadequate fortification of foods with vitamin D and the misconception that a healthy diet contains an adequate amount of vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency causes growth retardation and rickets in children and will precipitate and exacerbate osteopenia, osteoporosis and increase risk of fracture in adults. The vitamin D deficiency pandemic has other serious consequences including increased risk of common cancers, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, and cardiovascular disease. There needs to be a renewed appreciation of the beneficial effect of moderate sensible sunlight for providing all humans with their vitamin D requirement for health.
Topics: Health; Humans; Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced; Risk Assessment; Skin Neoplasms; Sunlight; Ultraviolet Rays; Vitamin D; Vitamin D Deficiency
PubMed: 32918212
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-46227-7_2 -
Journal of the American Academy of... May 2021Cutaneous photobiology studies have focused primarily on the ultraviolet portion of the solar spectrum. Visible light (VL), which comprises 50% of the electromagnetic... (Review)
Review
Cutaneous photobiology studies have focused primarily on the ultraviolet portion of the solar spectrum. Visible light (VL), which comprises 50% of the electromagnetic radiation that reaches the Earth's surface and, as discussed in Part I of this CME, has cutaneous biologic effects, such as pigment darkening and erythema. Photoprotection against VL includes avoiding the sun, seeking shade, and using photoprotective clothing. The organic and inorganic ultraviolet filters used in sunscreens do not protect against VL, only tinted sunscreens do. In the United States, these filters are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration as an over-the-counter drug and are subject to more stringent regulations than in Europe, Asia, and Australia. There are no established guidelines regarding VL photoprotection. Alternative measures to confer VL photoprotection are being explored. These novel methods include topical, oral, and subcutaneous agents. Further development should focus on better protection in the ultraviolet A1 (340-400 nm) and VL ranges while enhancing the cosmesis of the final products.
Topics: Administration, Cutaneous; Administration, Oral; Erythema; Humans; Injections, Subcutaneous; Radiation-Protective Agents; Skin; Skin Pigmentation; Sunlight; Treatment Outcome; Ultraviolet Rays
PubMed: 33640513
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaad.2020.11.074 -
Photochemistry and Photobiology Jul 2022
PubMed: 35904794
DOI: 10.1111/php.13667 -
Photochemistry and Photobiology 2023
PubMed: 37203322
DOI: 10.1111/php.13812 -
Photochemistry and Photobiology 2023
PubMed: 37737331
DOI: 10.1111/php.13847 -
Journal of Integrative Plant Biology Sep 2020
Topics: Light Signal Transduction; Photobiology; Phototrophic Processes; Plant Development
PubMed: 32776700
DOI: 10.1111/jipb.13004 -
Nutrition Reviews Jul 2018This review explores contemporary ideas about the relationship between light exposure and vitamin biology. Nutritional biochemistry has long recognized the relationship... (Review)
Review
This review explores contemporary ideas about the relationship between light exposure and vitamin biology. Nutritional biochemistry has long recognized the relationship between vitamins A and D and light exposure, but in recent years other vitamins have also been implicated in photoresponsive biological mechanisms that influence health, well-being, and even evolutionary processes. Interactions between light and vitamins can modify genotype-phenotype relationships across the life cycle, providing a basis for interesting new explanations relevant to wide aspects of human biology. This review examines both well-established and emerging ideas about vitamin photobiology in the context of the following: (1) light responsiveness of vitamin D (photosynthesized in skin), vitamin A (linked to vision), and vitamin B3 (needed to repair genomic damage); (2) vulnerability of folate and vitamins B1, B2, B12, and D to ultraviolet (UV) light (all potentially degraded); (3) protective/filtering actions of carotenoids and vitamins C and E, which act as antioxidants and/or natural sunscreens, against UV light; (4) role of folate, carotenoids, and vitamins A, B3, C, D, and E in UV-related genomic regulation, maintenance, and repair; (5) role of folate and vitamins A, B2, B12, and D in a range of light-signaling and light-transduction pathways; and (6) links between folate and vitamin D and the evolution of UV light-adaptive phenotypes.
Topics: Antioxidants; Ascorbic Acid; Carotenoids; Folic Acid; Humans; Niacinamide; Photobiology; Phototrophic Processes; Ultraviolet Rays; Vitamin A; Vitamin D; Vitamin E; Vitamins
PubMed: 29718444
DOI: 10.1093/nutrit/nuy013 -
Photochemistry and Photobiology Mar 2020
PubMed: 32249479
DOI: 10.1111/php.13250 -
Annual Review of Microbiology Jun 2024Widespread phytochrome photoreceptors use photoisomerization of linear tetrapyrrole (bilin) chromophores to measure the ratio of red to far-red light. Cyanobacteria also... (Review)
Review
Widespread phytochrome photoreceptors use photoisomerization of linear tetrapyrrole (bilin) chromophores to measure the ratio of red to far-red light. Cyanobacteria also contain distantly related cyanobacteriochrome (CBCR) proteins that share the bilin-binding GAF domain of phytochromes but sense other colors of light. CBCR photocycles are extremely diverse, ranging from the near-UV to the near-IR. Photoisomerization of the bilin triggers photoconversion of the CBCR input, thereby modulating the biochemical signaling state of output domains such as histidine kinase bidomains that can interface with cellular signal transduction pathways. CBCRs thus can regulate several aspects of cyanobacterial photobiology, including phototaxis, metabolism of cyclic nucleotide second messengers, and optimization of the cyanobacterial light-harvesting apparatus. This review examines spectral tuning, photoconversion, and photobiology of CBCRs and recent developments in understanding their evolution and in applying them in synthetic biology.
PubMed: 38848579
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-micro-041522-094613 -
Dermatologic Clinics Jul 2014
Topics: Dermatology; Humans; Photobiology; Photochemotherapy; Photosensitizing Agents; Skin Diseases
PubMed: 24891065
DOI: 10.1016/j.det.2014.05.001