Photoaging and oxidative stress.

Photoaging is significantly different from chronological aging in both clinical and histological appearance. It has been suggested that oxidative stress, generated by ultraviolet radiation (UVR), leads to photoaging over a long period. The presence of 8-OHdG, and oxidatively modified proteins such as 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal-modified protein, 3-L-nitro-tyrosine and N(-epsilon) (carboxymethyl)lysine in UV-exposed skin specimens, supports this theory. The pathophysiology of photoaging of the skin caused by chronic inflammation after UVR is reviewed and discussed, with a focus on oxidative stress.