Abstract
Biomedical aspects of tattooing have been extensively discussed in literature, however pathophysiological effects of tattoo inks in the human body are still unexplored. Oxidative stress is considered responsible for the adverse effects of tattooing, however no experimental evidence for tattoo ink-related oxidative stress in the human body currently exists. The aim was to examine the effect of a blue tattoo on skin redox regulatory network (RRN) parameters in a single human subject. Skin surface oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) was analyzed with a PH60F flat probe. Interstitial and intracellular fluid enriched capillary blood from the tattoo and the control area was extracted and analyzed with I2/KI-stabilized microORP, nitrocellulose redox permanganometry (NRP), carbonato-cobaltate (III) formation-derived H2O2 dissociation rate assay, 1,2,3-trihydroxybenzene autoxidation assay, thiobarbituric reactive substances (TBARS) assay and 5,5,’-dithio-bis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB)-based determination of free thiol content in low molecular weight and protein precipitate fractions. Surface ORP analysis revealed a greater antioxidant capacity of tattooed skin in comparison with the control (CTR). Capillary blood analysis confirmed greater reductive capacity in the tattoo sample both by microORP (−4.33 mV vs CTR) and NRP (+10.8%). Hydrogen peroxide dissociation rate (+11.8%), and protein sulfhydryl content (+8.5%) were increased, and lipid peroxidation (−15%) was reduced in the tattoo sample in comparison with the CTR. In this N-of-1 study, RRN of tattooed skin was shifted toward a more reductive state with all parameters indicating reduced levels of oxidative stress in comparison with nontattooed skin. The local antioxidant effect of copper(II) phthalocyanine provides one possible explanation of the observed effects.
Highlights
Tattooing has been extensively discussed in the literature in the context of hygiene and infectious diseases
This finding was at first counterintuitive as literature suggests increased oxidative stress in tattooed skin, out of 72 consecutive measurements (36 of the 12 tattoo areas of interest and 36 of the 12 control areas as explained in the Methods section) 54 measurements showed that tattooed skin was stronger antioxidant, 12 measurements suggested it had the same reductive potential as the control skin, and only 6 measurements suggested tattooed skin was slightly more oxidative
Low molecular weight thiols were the only regulatory network (RRN) subsystem that suggested tattooed skin was exposed to more oxidative stress in comparison to non-tattooed skin, the results suggest a very small reduction of only 2.8% of the control values (Fig 1K)
Summary
Tattooing has been extensively discussed in the literature in the context of hygiene and infectious diseases. Pathophysiological effects of tattoo inks in the human body are yet to be elucidated. Modern red and yellow tattoo inks contain azo dyes, and phthalocyanines are usually found in different shades of blue and green (Bäumler et al 2000). Significant chemical variability of tattoo inks is probably responsible for different biological effects. One other study tested 19 different black tattoo inks and found significant variability in both their chemical constitution and the potential to reduce mitochondrial activity of human keratinocytes in vitro (Regensburger et al 2010). Apart from great chemical variability and complexity of commonly used tattoo inks, another challenge for understanding pathophysiological effects of tattooing arises from the fact that tattooing has never been extensively studied in humans in vivo. Not a single study I am aware of examined the effect of tattoo ink on oxidative stress in humans
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