Understanding the biological responses to sun exposure in healthy adults

Overview: This non-randomised, feasibility study aims to examine the minimum dose of solar exposure required to cause cellular damage and induction of repair pathways. Five adult volunteers aged over 18 years will receive graded sub-erythemal UV doses on their lower back under UV Index 3 (intervention) and skin biopsies will be collected 24 hours post UV exposure to analyse the level of cellular damage. Each UV dosage site is 0.9cm2. A control site will also be biopsied to examine non-exposed UV skin (total 5 biopsies across the study). Participant involvement would include two visits to QUT, Kelvin Grove: Visit 1: • Filling in a survey form asking about your type of skin, your medical history and sun exposure behaviour. • Collection of a saliva sample • One 1mm punch biopsy of a non-UVR exposed site on the lower back by a registered medical practitioner. • One 1mm punch biopsy immediately following UV exposure on your lower back by a registered medical practitioner. • Exposing a row of five square areas of skin on the back (each with an area of 0.9cm2) to a low dose of ultraviolet light (similar to natural sunlight). The exposure will be similar to approximately 15, 30, 40 minutes in the sun before 7am in Brisbane during summer just enough to cause faint redness- to determine how long your skin takes to redden. This is called your Minimal Erythemal Dose (MED). This exposure is less than 1 MED. This is a 1.5 hour visit. Visit 2: • On a subsequent visit the next day participants will have 3 skin biopsies on the lower back that was exposed to UV the previous day by a registered medical practitioner. Each biopsy will be only 1mm diameter and will be taken under local anaesthetic. This is a 1 hour visit. Participants will be provided with an aftercare leaflet, and advised to contact the study team should they have any concerns after the procedures. Participants are supervised by researchers during the visits and sent reminder emails/or texts by the research team to remind them of their appointments.