Characterisation of the Time-course Response of UV-induced Erythema (CHERY)

March 13, 2024 updated by: Sally Ibbotson, University of Dundee

Erythema is a physiological response to an insult on the skin. One such insult is ultraviolet (UV) radiation, with the resultant erythema also known as sunburn. It is a reddening of the skin as a result of increased blood flow to the area. By controlled exposure to UV radiation, a minimal erythema dose (MED) indicative of threshold erythemal sensitivity to the exposure waveband may be determined - this is determined visually by a trained clinician as the dose of light required to cause a just perceptible reddening of the skin. The MED of a specific patient on a specific skin site is an important measurement - it can allow for determination of initial dose in UV phototherapy, provides an indication of background levels of photosensitivity in diagnostic phototesting and may be influenced by exogenous factors, such as photoactive drugs.

The erythema response has been measured previously using non-invasive hand-held devices for a variety of UV exposures, including narrow-band (NB-)UVB, UVA and UVA1. Typically, the participant will be exposed in the morning (t = 0h) and have a reading taken immediately after. These readings are assessed visually by a trained clinician, or occasionally reflectance devices are used quantify erythema. The participant will then return at the end of the working day (t ~ 8h) for another reading, and again the next morning for another reading (t ~ 24h). This results in large gaps in the knowledge of erythemal response over time.

In this study the investigators aim to characterise the erythema response as a result of UV insult using a wearable erythema device to take continual measurements. This would allow us to more accurately determine the time point of peak erythema, which would inform and potentially change our current practice in reading MEDs. The investigators have previous experience of studies using reflectance devices to measure erythema time course at fixed intervals, however there are still gaps in the knowledge of the time course response of erythema.

There is no expected health benefit to participants in this study, however they may gain a better understanding of their responses to ultraviolet light MED testing. Controlled UV exposures are commonplace in our practice in the Photobiology Unit and it is not foreseen that there are any risks to participation in the study.

The primary objective in this study is to determine when the peak erythema index occurs in a healthy volunteer group. Success of this outcome will help fill in these gaps in the knowledge about the time course of erythema. The secondary objective is to determine if there is any difference in MED and/or peak erythema if the UV exposure is delivered in the morning vs. the afternoon. The outcomes of the research will be 20 sets (2 per participant) of continuous 48-hour erythema measurements.

Study Overview

Status

Withdrawn

Conditions

Study Type

Interventional

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Healthy volunteers. No clinically significant abnormality identified by evaluation of medical history, in particular no evidence of photosensitivity
  • Adult males and females, >18 years only
  • Capable of giving informed consent
  • Able to understand and adhere to protocol requirements
  • Skin phototype I - III

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Contact allergy to adhesives tapes
  • Abnormal rash/pigmentation on thighs
  • Unable to give informed consent
  • Known to have a light sensitive disorder
  • Pregnant, breastfeeding or planning to conceive
  • Skin phototype IV - VI
  • Lack of space on thighs for test procedures

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Morning exposure in week 1
Participants will have their first week of testing starting in the morning
Participant is irradiated with several doses of UV light on small areas of the outer thigh. 24 hours later this area is visually inspected for erythema, and the minimal erythemal dose (MED) is determined.
Participants wear a portable erythema measurement device for 48 hours. The device shines light on the skin at frequent intervals and measures skin 'redness'. The device is removed by a technician after the 48 hours.
Experimental: Afternoon exposure in week 1
Participants will have their first week of testing starting in the afternoon
Participant is irradiated with several doses of UV light on small areas of the outer thigh. 24 hours later this area is visually inspected for erythema, and the minimal erythemal dose (MED) is determined.
Participants wear a portable erythema measurement device for 48 hours. The device shines light on the skin at frequent intervals and measures skin 'redness'. The device is removed by a technician after the 48 hours.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Measure 2x 48 hour erythema time courses on each participant
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Measure 2 MEDs (minimal erythemal doses) in each participant, at morning and afternoon exposures each
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Collaborators

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

September 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

November 1, 2024

Study Completion (Estimated)

November 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 26, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 26, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

February 28, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 15, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 13, 2024

Last Verified

March 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2-004-20

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Erythema

Clinical Trials on MED Test

3
Subscribe