Fluorescence excitation spectroscopy provides information about human skin in vivo

Fluorescence spectroscopy of human skin has the potential to provide useful morphologic and biochemical information. The endogenous fluorescence of human skin has been investigated in vivo on normal human volunteers as well as on patients with psoriasis and it was found that characteristic bands can be identified in the fluorescence spectra that are associated with specific skin fluorophores. One epidermal band (295 nm excitation, attributed to tryptophan) and two dermal bands (335 and 370 nm excitation, attributed to collagen cross-links) were consistently present in all fluorescence spectra. In addition, the fluorescence spectra obtained from lesions and nonlesional sites of psoriatic patients differed from those obtained from healthy volunteers and the hyperproliferative state of the lesions was characterized by a significantly larger signal at 295 nm excitation. These results indicate that fluorescence spectroscopy is a promising technique for the investigation of human skin in vivo.