Immunosuppressive effects of ultraviolet (280-320 nm) radiation and psoralen plus ultraviolet (320-400 nm) radiation in mice.

Contact hypersensitivity (CHS), a cell-mediated immunologic reaction, can be induced in mice by application of a contact-sensitizing chemical to the shaved skin. Exposing the animals to UV radiation from FS40 sunlamps inhibits this immune response. This inhibition is systemic, since the sensitizer need not be applied to the irradiated site of the animal. The mechanism whereby UV radiation prevents CHS appears to involve the production of suppressor T-lymphocytes. Recent evidence suggests that UV exposure of mice alters the way in which certain antigens are processed, and this altered processing or presentation of antigen results in the activation of the suppressor cell pathway, rather than leading to immunization. Treatment of mice with a photosensitizer, psoralen, plus UV (320-400 nm) radiation also suppresses CHS systemically, but whether the cellular mechanisms are the same as those underlying the suppression from the shorter UV wavelengths remains to be determined. The possible role of these immunosuppressive events in photocarcinogenesis is discussed.