UV responses in Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, and, Asians residing in Hawai'i and in Maryland

Abstract

UV exposure causes a wide range of skin damage including cutaneous melanoma. The mechanisms of cellular and molecular damage, as well as those of erythemal and pigmentation responses to UV exposure, have largely been studied in the White population. This study systematically investigates responses to UV exposure in the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) and Asian populations living in Hawai'i (A/HI) as well as in Asians living in Maryland (A/MD). Our analyses indicate that the NHPI population is less sensitive to UV exposure than the A/HI population. Comparisons between the two Asian groups suggest that, despite slightly but not statistically different baseline constitutive pigmentation (pre-UV exposure), the A/HI and A/MD had similar UV sensitivity, measured as minimal erythemal dose (MED). However, the A/MD population had higher levels of oxyhemoglobin at doses of 2.0, 2.8 and 4.0 MED. Unexpectedly, the A/MD subjects retained higher levels of pigmentation 2 weeks post-UV exposure. This study provides insight into UV responses of the inhabitants of Hawai'i and shows that such responses are statistically significant for relatively small samples of NHPI and for A/HI and A/MD.