Abstract
β-Endorphin exerts a broad spectrum of physiological activity on mood, immune functions, pain management, reward effects, and behavioral stability. β-Endorphin is produced in certain neurons within the central and peripheral nervous system but also in the skin, especially in response to ultraviolet radiation. In the present study we have investigated the impact of visible blue light at λ = 453 nm (BL) on β-endorphin production of primary human skin keratinocytes (hKC) in-vitro as well as on systemic β-endorphin formation of whole-body exposed subjects in-vivo. We found that BL irradiation significantly enhanced both keratinocytic β-endorphin production of hKC cultures as well as systemic β-endorphin concentrations in light exposed healthy subjects. Interestingly, in hKC cultures elevated β-endorphin formation was paralleled by significantly increased levels of non-enzymatically generated nitric oxide (NO), whereas elevated systemic β-endorphin values of BL-exposed subjects were accompanied by enhanced systemic concentration of bioactive NO-derivates. These findings point to a pivotal role of NO in the molecular mechanism of the observed BL-induced effects, and indeed, exogenously applied NO was able to significantly enhance β-endorphin production in hKC cultures. Thus, our finding of BL-induced increases in systemic β-endorphin concentration in-vivo can be plausibly explained by an event sequence comprising 1.) BL-driven non-enzymatic formation of NO in the exposed skin tissue, 2.) systemic distribution of cutaneously produced NO in the Form of bioactive nitroso compounds, 3.) a subsequent NO-dependent induction of β-endorphin synthesis in epidermal keratinocytes, and 4.) probably also a NO-dependent modulation of β-endorphin synthesis in specialized neurons within the central and peripheral nervous system.