Acetic Acid as a Topical RNA Denaturant: A Proposed Mechanism for Vinegar's Efficacy in Attenuating the UV-Induced Inflammatory Response
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Vinegar has been used as a folk remedy for sunburn for centuries, yet its mechanism of action remains poorly characterized in the dermatological literature. Existing explanations invoke pH modulation and nonspecific anti-inflammatory properties, neither of which adequately accounts for the rapid onset of relief reported by users. Recent work by Vind et al. (2024) has demonstrated that the acute sunburn response is driven primarily by RNA damage rather than DNA damage, mediated through the ribotoxic stress response (RSR) via ZAK-alpha activation. Separately, earlier work by Bernard et al. (2012) established that UV-damaged noncoding RNA acts as a damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP), triggering innate immune signaling through TLR3. Independent of these findings, acetic acid has been shown to be a potent RNA denaturant, capable of cleaving intramolecular hydrogen bonds in RNA more effectively than formaldehyde or urea (Sumitomo et al., 2009). This paper proposes that topical application of dilute acetic acid attenuates the UV-induced inflammatory response by denaturing damaged RNA at the site of injury, thereby disrupting the molecular signals that initiate the inflammatory cascade. This mechanism, if validated, would reframe vinegar not as a symptomatic palliative but as a direct intervention in the signaling pathway responsible for sunburn inflammation. A straightforward experimental protocol for validation is proposed.
Author: Evans, John
Language: English
Topic: Skin Protection and Aging
Subfield: Dermatology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7130820709