Researchers at King’s College London have found a molecule in the body which is the cause of the pain felt from a sunburn. The discovery could lead to medications to treat pain caused by other common inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, according to the study.
The study involved exposing small areas of healthy participants’ skin to UVB radiation. The exposed areas exhibited tenderness after a few hours and reached their pain peak one to two days later. At that time researchers took small biposies from the affected skin to look for proteins associated with the pain. Several mediators were found to be overexpressed, including CXCL5. Then scientists were able to confirm their theory that CXCL5 was mediator that causes pain in sunburnt skin through laboratory tests on rats.
Read the Full Story from King’s College London.
Last modified on October 18th, 2018 at 6:47 pm