Effects of intrinsic aging and photodamage on skin dyspigmentation: an explorative study

Photoaging is associated with increasing pigmentary heterogeneity and darkening of skin color. However, little is known about age-related changes in skin pigmentation on sun-protected areas. The aim of this explorative study was to measure skin color and dyspigmentation using image processing and to evaluate the reliability of these parameters. Twenty-four volunteers of three age-groups were included in this explorative study. Measurements were conducted at sun-exposed and sun-protected areas. Overall skin-color estimates were similar among age groups. The hyper- and hypopigmentation indices differed significantly by age groups and their correlations with age ranged between 0.61 and 0.74. Dorsal forearm skin differed from the other investigational areas (p<0.001). We observed an increase in dyspigmentation at all skin areas, including sun-protected skin areas, already in young adulthood. Associations between age and dyspigmentation estimates were higher compared to color parameters. All color and dyspigmentation estimates showed high reliability. Dyspigmentation parameters seem to be better biomarkers for UV damage than the overall color measurements.