ABSTRACT
One of the functions of carotenoid pigments in green plants and photosynthetic
microorganisms is to protect these organisms against photosensitization by their
own chlorophyll. The author used this protective function of carotenoids to
develop a treatment for the photosensitivity associated with the rare genetic
disease erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP). How this treatment was developed,
as well as the use of carotenoids in the management of EPP and certain other
photosensitivity diseases of the skin, will be reviewed here.
