Autofluorescence of human epidermis under UV-irradiation in vitro

We studied autofluorescence of the layers of normal human epidermis in the course of the development of less invasive technique for assessment of tissue state. Surface epidermal stripping technique was applied to spectrofluorimetric study of epidermis. Three bands (280+/-20 nm, 360+/-20 nm, 435+/-20 nm) were used for excitation of sample fluorescence. Some well reproducible autofluorescence bands were observed over all samples. Data averaged over the group of volunteers are indicative of the decrease of intrinsic epidermis fluorophores content with depth. Alterations in fluorescence of samples of different epidermal layers under storage were studied as well as the dynamics of autofluorescence degradation in just taken strippings under continuous UV irradiation.