Researchers have found a possible underlying genetic susceptibility to being dependent on UV tanning.
Recent research suggests people who frequently use tanning beds can develop behaviors that fulfill the criteria for dependence.
“These behaviours are characterized by continued and frequent tanning despite adverse consequences, such as skin cancer, or tanning with greater frequency than required to maintain a tan. In addition, withdrawal symptoms have been reported in frequent, but not infrequent, tanners treated with naltrexone,” explained Brenda Cartmel, the lead author of the study in Experimental Dermatology.
After interviewing young people about their indoor and outdoor tanning history and using questionnaires to classify people as being dependent on UV tanning or not, the investigators conducted a large scale scan of approximately 319,000 rare and common genetic variants in the participants’ genomes.
“We observed that inherited variation in one gene – known as patched domain containing 2 (PTCHD2) – was significantly associated with whether or not young people, all of whom had previously sunbathed or indoor tanned, exhibited symptoms of tanning dependence,” Cartmel said.
“These results are provocative in suggesting genetic associations with TD, but due to the relatively small sample size, replication in larger samples is necessary,” she concluded.