Photoprotective and Antiinflammatory Effects of Topical Glycolic Acid

Abstract

When UVB-burned skin was treated with glycolic acid daily for 7 days (site 2), a 16% reduction in irritation was observed compared to nontreated skin (site 1), implying that skin healed sooner when treated with glycolic acid. When a comparison of nontreated skin was made to skin treated with glycolic acid for 3 weeks prior to UVB exposure (site 1 vs site 3), a sun protection factor (SPF) of 2.4 was achieved. When a comparison of skin treated for 3 weeks was made to skin treated for 3 weeks and chemically peeled (site 3 vs site 4) the data implied that the chemical peel reduced the SPF value of skin treated with glycolic by approximately 50%, however, an SPF trend of 1.7 was still obtained when compared with untreated skin. CONCLUSIONS. The studies demonstrated that topical glycolic acid provides a photoprotective effect to pretreated skin yielding an SPF of approximately 2.4. In addition, when glycolic acid is applied to irradiated skin, it accelerates resolution of erythema. The data obtained from both studies support the hypothesis that glycolic acids acts as an antioxidant.