CIDP innovates with ex-vivo tests combining blue light and pollution protection

19 July 2019

The human skin is constantly exposed to external stresses such as solar irradiation and ambient pollution. Digital pollution has also been recently called into question and with the rapid rise in technology and digitalisation, the dangers of blue light is becoming more and more obvious. CIDP has developed monochromatic calibrated Blue light sources and a Controlled Pollution Exposure System (CPES) which allows investigation of the combined effect of blue light and pollution on skin ageing.

Ex-vivo results on skin explants have shown that the combined effect of pollution and Blue light induces an increase in the production of ROS, MMP-1 and IL-6. Using SEM, results have also shown that after an exposure to blue light + pollution, the collagen bundles present in the dermoepidermal junction unravel and flatten (figure 1). Moreover, it revealed that skin explants exposed to blue light (412 nm or 450 nm) present an increase in the level of partially degraded (unwound) collagen as revealed by a specific probe (figure 2).

Figure 1: SEM images of the dermoepidermal junction of skin explants exposed or not to blue light and pollution. Magnification 200X.

Figure 2: Confocal microscopy images of skin explants exposed or not to blue light and stained with collagen hybridizing peptide (CHP) probe, which localizes to partially degraded (unwound) collagen (3Helix).