The anti-inflammatory and pharmacological effects of topically applied flurbiprofen on human skin 24 hours after ultraviolet B irradiation.

Human abdominal skin was irradiated, with three minimal erythema doses of ultraviolet B (290-320 nm) radiation, producing maximal erythema at 24h, with an associated rise in PGE2 and PGF2 alpha, measured by gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry. Topical applications of 5% flurbiprofen, a prostaglandin synthetase inhibiting drug applied immediately after irradiation, partially suppressed the u.v.B. evoked erythema at 24h but totally prevented elevation of PGE2 and PGF2 alpha, without any associated significant rise in arachidonic acid. These findings support the view that erythema due to u.v.B. is only partly mediated by products of cyclo-oxygenase pathway, and should prompt a search for other mediators, including non-prostaglandin metabolites of arachidonic acid.