Time-resolved and steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy for the assessment of skin photoaging process

Intrinsic fluorescence from biological tissue can be exploited for basic studies of physiology and pathology. The optical properties of these intrinsic fluorophores respond to the microenvironment and the metabolic status, thus making fluorescence spectroscopy a valuable tool to study the conditions of biological tissues. The purpose of this study is to investigate the hairless mice skin metabolic changes during the photoaging process through lifetime and fluorescence measurements targeting NADH and FAD. Two lasers centered at 378 nm and 445 nm, respectively, perform excitation of NADH and FAD. The fluorescence acquisition is carried out at mice dorsal and ventral regions throughout the photoaging protocol and aging process. Differences in fluorescence and lifetime data between young and photoaged mice measurements were observed. The endogenous fluorescence spectrum of photoaged dorsal skin showed an increase compared to young and aged skin. Lifetime of bound NADH and free FAD presented an increase in the first week that continued until the end of the protocol. Aging process is being investigated to complement the information obtained from fluorescence data and lifetime of photoaging process.