Reactive Sulphur Species and Exposome: A Perspective on Potential Role in Alleviating UV-Induced Stress

Abstract

Exposome is a field of study that identifies and recognises the impact of environmental exposures on a person's health and development, starting from the prenatal period onward. Oxidative stress is commonly associated as one of the underlying mechanisms of ultraviolet radiation (UV)-induced damage in the skin, due to the overproduction of a reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the body. Evidently, overexposure to UV radiation will cause a disturbance in the ability to balance the ROS levels in the body, leading to damaging effects such as protein modifications, lipid peroxidation, and DNA mutations, which will progress into cell death. Reactive sulphur species (RSS) are molecules that have the capability to oxidise or reduce biomolecules under physiological conditions. In this review, the mechanism of UV-induced cellular damage will be discussed and later lead to the conclusion on how RSS plays an important role in combating oxidative stress induced by UV exposure.