• Burkhard Gustorff, Thomas Sycha, Doris Lieba-Samal, Roman Rolke, Rolf-Detlef Treede, and Walter Magerl.
• Vienna Human Pain Research Group, Department of Anaesthesia, General Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Control, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
• Pain. 2013 Apr 1;154(4):586-97.

AbstractThe ultraviolet B (UVB) sunburn model was characterized with a comprehensive battery of quantitative sensory testing (QST). Primary hyperalgesia in UVB-irradiated skin and secondary hyperalgesia in adjacent nonirradiated skin were studied in 22 healthy subjects 24h after irradiation with UVB at 3-fold minimal erythema dose of a skin area 5 cm in diameter at the thigh and compared to mirror-image contralateral control areas. The time course of hyperalgesia over 96 h was studied in a subgroup of 12 subjects. Within the sunburn area, cold hyperesthesia (P=.01), profound generalized hyperalgesia to heat (P<.001), cold (P<.05), pinprick and pressure (P<.001), and mild dynamic mechanical allodynia (P<.001) were present. The finding of cold hyperalgesia and cold hyperesthesia is new in this model. The sunburn was surrounded by large areas of pinprick hyperalgesia (mean±SEM, 218±32 cm(2)) and a small rim of dynamic mechanical allodynia but no other sensory changes. Although of smaller magnitude, secondary hyperalgesia and dynamic mechanical allodynia adjacent to the UVB-irradiated area were statistically highly significant. Primary and secondary hyperalgesia developed in parallel within hours, peaked after 24-32 h, and lasted for more than 96 h. These data reveal that the UVB sunburn model activates a broad spectrum of peripheral and central sensitization mechanisms and hence is a useful human surrogate model to be used as a screening tool for target engagement in phases 1 and 2a of drug development.Copyright © 2013 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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