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. 2013 Sep 12;2013:930164. doi: 10.1155/2013/930164

Table 1.

Exogenous antioxidants with photoprotective or damage protective effects.

Antioxidants Outcome of the study Study
Ascorbic acid Topical vitamin C 5% cream applied for six months led to clinical improvement in the appearance of photoaged skin
Topical vitamin C stimulates the collagen-producing activity of the dermis
Magnesium ascorbyl phosphate administration immediately after exposure in hairless mice significantly delayed skin tumor formation and hyperplasia induced by chronic exposure to UV radiation Elmore, 2005 [51]
Ascorbic acid was a photoprotectant when applied to mice and pig skin before exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation Elmore, 2005 [51]

Vitamin E UV-induced vitamin E depletion Packer and Valacchi, 2002 [52]
The interaction of vitamin E with the eicosanoid system may result in an anti-inflammatory effect and thereby complement the photoprotective effects of other antioxidants in the skin Boelsma et al., 2001 [53]
Vitamin E has skin barrier-stabilizing properties Packer et al., 2001 [54]

Lycopene UV light decreased skin lycopene concentrations more so than skin β-carotene concentrations Ribaya-Mercadoet al., 1995 [55]
Lycopene protects against UV-induced erythema in humans

Carotenoids (carotene, β-carotene, and carotenoid mix) Carotenoids are efficient in photoprotection, scavenging singlet oxygen, and peroxyl radicals. Supplements or a carotenoid-rich diet decreased sensitivity against UV-induced erythema Sies and Stahl, 2004 [56]
Supplementation with carotenoids contributes to basal protection of the skin but is not sufficient to obtain complete protection against severe UV irradiation Stahl and Krutmann, 2006 [57]
Dietary beta-carotene has effect on wrinkles and elasticity, procollagen gene expression, and ultraviolet (UV)-induced DNA damage in human skin Cho et al., 2010 [58]
Erythema-protective effect of a carotenoid mix inhibited serum lipid peroxidation Heinrich et al., 1998 [59]
Heinrich et al., 2003 [60]
Lee et al., 2000 [61]
Presupplementation with β-carotene before and during sunlight exposure provides protection against sunburn Gollnick et al., 1996 [62]
Inhibition of UV-induced epidermal damage and tumor formation in mouse models Mathews-Roth and Krinsky, 1987 [63]

Tretinoin Topical tretinoin ameliorates the clinical signs of photoaging Cordero, 1983 [64]
Kligman et al., 1986 [65]
The treatment of photodamaged skin with tretinoin increased collagen I formation. Griffiths et al., 1993 [66]
Topical tretinoin is safe and effective in the treatment of photodamage Gilchrest, 1997 [67]
Improvement in photodamaged skin Weinstein et al., 1991 [68]
Topical tretinoin reduced the effects of photoaging Voorhees, 1990 [69]
Topical tretinoin in combination with sun protection as a useful approach to the treatment of sun-damaged skin Leyden, 1998 [70]

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) Topical application of CoQ10 has the beneficial effect of preventing photoaging Hoppe et al., 1999 [71]
Coenzyme Q10 protects against oxidative stress-induced cell death and enhances the synthesis of basement membrane components in dermal and epidermal cells Muta-Takada et al., 2009 [72]
CoQ10 was shown to reduce UVA-induced MMPs in cultured human dermal fibroblasts Inui et al., 2008 [73]

Glutathione Glutathione is a photoprotective agent in skin cells Connor and Wheeler, 1987 [74]

Zinc Zn-treated fibroblasts were more resistant to UVR than cells grown in normal medium Richard et al., 1993 [75]
Zn can positively influence the effects of oxidative stress on cultured human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells Tate et al., 1999 [76]

Resveratrol Application of resveratrol to the skin of hairless mice effectively prevented the UVB-induced increase in skin thickness and the development of the skin edema Afaq and Mukhtar, 2002 [77]

Green tea Green tea polyphenols were shown to reduce UV light-induced oxidative stress and immunosuppression Katiyar et al., 2000 [78]
Topical treatment or oral consumption of green tea polyphenols (GTP) inhibits chemical carcinogen- or UV radiation-induced skin carcinogenesis in different laboratory animal models Katiyar, 2003 [79]

Green tea or caffeine Oral administration of green tea or caffeine in amounts equivalent to three or five cups of coffee per day to UVB-exposed mice increased levels of p53, slowed cell cycling, and increased apoptotic sun burn cells in the epidermis Lu et al., 2008 [80]

Sylimarin Silymarin strongly prevents both photocarcinogenesis and skin tumor promotion in mice Singh and Agarwal, 2002 [81]
Skin cancer chemopreventive effects Ahmad et al., 1998 [82]

Genistein Antioxidant and anticarcinogenic effects on skin Wei et al., 1995 [83]

Cocoa Dietary flavanols from cocoa contribute to endogenous photoprotection, improve dermal blood circulation, and affect cosmetically relevant skin surface and hydration variables Heinrich et al., 2006 [84]
Photoprotection against UV-induced erythema Heinrich et al., 2006 [84]