Association of vitiligo with ABO/Rh system and its influence on thyroid stimulating hormone and vitamin D

This study was conducted to determine if there is a relationship between vitiligo and ABO blood groups, the Rhesus (Rh) factor, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and vitamin D. For vitiligo analysis, two hundred subjects participated in this study, 100 vitiligo patients and 100 control cases (without vitiligo). ABO blood grouping and Rh typing were tested by a slide method. TSH testing involved 80 vitiligo patients and 80 controls (without vitiligo) and the hormone was analyzed by separating the serum in a centrifuge for two minutes and the results were obtained by Beckman fully automatic analyzer. For vitamin D, 50 vitiligo patients and 50 healthy people (without vitiligo) were included. The data on vitamin D were obtained from private laboratory services. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS version 26. P< 0.05), while no statistically significant difference in TSH serum levels between vitiligo cases and controls, was found (p-value > 0.05). Furthermore, despite showing that subjects with blood group O are more susceptible to vitiligo as compared to other groups, there was no significant association of vitiligo with ABO blood groups (p-value > 0.05). Similarly, the incidence of Rh positive and Rh negative was not statistically different between the two groups (p-value > 0.05). This study showed that vitiligo patients are often vitamin D deficient. This study highlights the need to evaluate vitamin D status in vitiligo patients to improve the level of skin pigment loss. It remains unknown whether vitamin D deficiency causes vitiligo. However, a collection of larger sample sizes of different ethnicities should be required to achieve a precise conclusion.

Histopathological findings in lesional and perilesional skin of vitiligo patients before and after narrow band ultraviolet B phototherapy

Background: Vitiligo is a skin disease with complex, multifactorial pathogenesis. Abnormalities in surrounding keratinocytes may cause melanocyte death due to deprivation of growth factors. Narrow band ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) is an effective therapeutic option especially in patients with generalized disease.Objective: The aim of this study was to identify histopathological changes in lesional and perilesional skin of vitiligo patients and the effect of NB-UVB therapy on them.Methods: Twenty patients were enrolled in this study. They received NB-UVB twice weekly on non-consecutive days for a total of 40 sessions. Skin biopsies from lesional and perilesional skin were obtained from each patient before and after therapy.Results: After therapy, 10% of patients showed excellent clinical response, 10% showed good response, 40% showed moderate response, 35% showed poor response and 5% showed progressive disease. Before therapy, 50% of patients showed a basal lymphocytic infiltrate with a perivascular lymphocytic infiltrate in both lesional and perilesional skin. 40% of them showed additional hydropic degeneration of lower epidermis with apoptotic keratinocytes in 20% of them. After therapy, these inflammatory changes were significantly reduced (p=0.04).Conclusion: NB-UVB is an effective method of treatment of vitiligo. This may be due to its immunosuppressive effects. Also, keratinocyte apoptosis may have a role in pathogenesis of vitiligo

Thyroid Dysfunctions in Sudanese Patients with Vitiligo

Introduction: Vitiligo is a chronic acquired skin condition that causes loss of pigment; resulting in irregular pale patches of skin. The precise cause of vitiligo is not fully understood. The autoimmune base of the disease is supported by the frequent observation that several autoimmune disorders; particularly thyroid diseases; are associated with vitiligo. Objective: To determine the frequency of thyroid dysfunctions in Sudanese patients with vitiligo. Methods: Two groups; i.e. vitiligo patients and control; were collected with simple random collection. The control group included individuals free of vitiligo. 5 ml of venous blood was taken from every individual in both groups and the ELISA test was done for thyroid hormones; i.e. T3; T4 and TSH; using the DRG-USA kits. Results: The number of patients with vitiligo in the study was 46; while the control group was 45. Nine (19.56) patients were found to have abnormal levels of thyroid hormones. No abnormal levels in the control group. Mean T3 level in patients was 1.463ng/l; while in control group it was 1.467ng/l. Mean T4 level in patients was 102.761 nmol/l; while in control group it was 90.844 nmol/l. Mean TSH level in patients was 0.841 ?IU/l; while in control group it was 1.50 ?IU/l. The t-test was done to determine the significance of difference between means of T3; T4; and TSH between the patients and control groups. The P-values were found to be significant.Conclusion: There is a strong pathogenetic relationship between vitiligo in Sudanese patients and thyroid dysfunctions

Vitiligo: a Hospital-Based Study in Southern Nigeria

Background: Vitiligo is an acquired pigmentary disease characterized by loss of the pigment producing cells (melanocytes) of the skin; hair and mucous membranes (lips and genitalia); with subsequent development of white patches. The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiological pattern of vitiligo in Port Harcourt; south-south Nigeria. Methods: This was a prospective study of 82 cases of vitiligo seen in the dermatological clinic of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH); Port Harcourt; Nigeria from May 2005 to April 2009. All ages were included in this study. Data was analysed using the SPSS version 15. Descriptive statistics in the form of the frequency and percentage were used. Chi square was used to test relationship between variables. P0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: There were a total of 1;652 dermatological disorders during the study period. Eighty two patients had vitiligo giving a prevalence of 4.96. There were more females 45(54.9) than males 37(45.1) giving male: female ratio of 0.8:1. Vitiligo is commoner from the age of 20 years to 30 years (32.9). The head and neck region was the most common site of onset of the lesion and accounted for 28of cases. Generalized vitiligo [29(35.4)] was the most frequently found pattern of distribution. Positive family history was found in 6 cases (7.3). Eighteen (22.0) patients suffered from other diseases such as thyroid dysfunction [8(9.8)]; anaemia [4(4.9)]; atopic dermatitis [2(2.4)]; diabetes mellitus [1(1.2)]; anxiety disorder [1(1.2)]; collagen vascular disease [1(1.2)] and oligomenorrhoea [1(1.2)]. Conclusion: The pattern of vitiligo seen is similar to that reported from other parts of the world. There is also need to look for associated disorder in any case of vitiligo