Chocolate flavanols and skin photoprotection: a parallel, double-blind, randomized clinical trial

Nutrition Journal

Research

Simone Lemieux¹  Catherine Boivin²  Joël Claveau²  Jaime Andres Mogollon³  Claudine Blanchet³  Sylvie Dodin⁴ 

[1] Department of Food Sciences and Nutrition, Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods (INAF), Université Laval, Quebec, QC, Canada;Melanoma and Skin Cancer Clinic, Dermatology Division, Hôtel-Dieu Hospital, CHUQ, Quebec, QC, Canada;St. François d’Assise Hospital, Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec (CHUQ), Quebec, QC, Canada;St. François d’Assise Hospital, Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec (CHUQ), Quebec, QC, Canada;Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Research Centre, St. François d’Assise Hospital (CHUQ), Université Laval, G1L 3 L5, Quebec, QC, Canada;

关键词: Skin photoprotection;    Flavanols;    Chocolate;    Cocoa;    Minimal erythema dose;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2891-13-66

 received in 2013-12-18, accepted in 2014-06-24,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundSolar ultraviolet (UV) radiation has deleterious effects on the skin, including sunburn, photoaging and cancer. Chocolate flavanols are naturally-occurring antioxidant and anti-inflammatory molecules that could play a role in preventing cutaneous UV damage. We investigated the influence of 12-week high-flavanol chocolate (HFC) consumption on skin sensitivity to UV radiation, measured by minimal erythema dose (MED). We also evaluated skin elasticity and hydration.MethodsIn this 2-group, parallel, double-blind, randomized controlled trial, 74 women aged 20–65 years and Fitzpatrick skin phototypes I or II were recruited from the general community in Quebec City, for randomization to either HFC (n = 33) or low-flavanol chocolate (LFC) (n = 41). A blocked randomisation (4), considering date of entry, skin type and age as factors, generated a sequentially-numbered allocation list. Study participants and research assistants were blinded. Totally, 30 g of chocolate were consumed daily for 12 weeks, followed by a 3-week washout period. MED was assessed at baseline and at 6, 9, 12 and 15 weeks. Main outcome was changes in MED at week 12.Results33 participants in the HFC group and 41 in the LFC group were analyzed with 15 weeks of follow-up. Both groups showed similarly-increased MED at 12 weeks (HFC: 0.0252 ± 0.1099 J/cm2 [mean ± standard deviation (SD)]; LFC: 0.0151 ± 0.1118; mean difference (MD): 0.0100 J/cm2; 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.0417 to 0.0618). However, after 3-week washout, the HFC group presented decreased MED (-0.0248 ± 0.1145) whereas no effect was seen in the LFC group (0.0168 ± 0.1698) (MD: -0.0417; 95% CI: -0.1106 to 0.0272). Net temple elasticity increased slightly but significantly by 0.09 ± 0.12 mm in the HFC group at 12 weeks compared to 0.02 ± 0.12 mm in the LFC group (MD: 0.06; 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.12 ). No significant adverse events were reported.ConclusionOur study failed to demonstrate a statistically-significant protective effect of HFC vs. LFC consumption on skin sensitivity to UV radiation as measured by MED.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01444625

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Mogollon et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.