Reflectance confocal microscopy detects distinct features of field damage in chronically UV-irradiated SKH1 mouse skin.

Authors

Mehdi Boostani, Szabolcs Bozsányi, Sean P Murphy, Erin C Tracy, Ruby Acquah, John R Durkin, Norbert Kiss, Sandra Schuh, Deborah Winkler, Florencia Vera Morandini, Javiera Pérez-Anker, Carmen Cantisani, Li Yan, Noah Musolff, Babar K Rao, Wendy J Huss, Manu Jain, Gyorgy Paragh

Published in

JID innovations : skin science from molecules to population health. Volume 6. Issue 5. Pages 100502. Epub Jun 22, 2026.

Abstract

UVR drives keratinocyte clonal expansion and cutaneous field damage, yet the assessment of early UV-induced field damage remains subjective and lacks an objective, non-invasive method. Reflectance confocal microscopy provides near-histologic imaging of the epidermis and may enable the detection of subclinical UV-induced changes before overt lesion development. Using SKH1 hairless mice, reflectance confocal microscopy images were analyzed during an early post-UV period at weeks 12 and 14 and a late post-UV period at weeks 16 and 18, corresponding to 6-8 and 2-4 weeks before the first visible tumor emergence, respectively. Five epidermal features significantly differentiated irradiated from control skin. Among the 5 features, atypical honeycombing and keratinocyte pleomorphism showed the strongest discriminatory value. In the early post-UV period, the expert-derived mean positivity for atypical honeycombing was 66.7-100% in irradiated skin versus 0-46.7% in control skin, while that for keratinocyte pleomorphism was 33.3-60% versus 0-13.3%, respectively. In the late post-UV period, atypical honeycombing was 46.7-100% in irradiated skin versus 0-33.3% in control skin, and keratinocyte pleomorphism was 33.3-80% versus 0-33.3%, respectively. Expert readers classified irradiated versus non-irradiated cases with 96.7% sensitivity and 90% specificity early and with 90% sensitivity and 90% specificity late. These findings support reflectance confocal microscopy as a non-invasive tool for detecting subclinical UV-related field damage.

PMID:
42571230
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 09 Aug 2026.

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