Enhancement of surgically repigmented vitiligo by narrow-band ultraviolet B phototherapy

Various surgical techniques and modifications have been described to treat recalcitrant but stable vitiligo with satisfactory results in terms of degree of repigmentation and color match. The minigrafting technique is relatively simple and can be carried out as an outpatient clinic procedure. Although minigrafting can be an effective treatment in vitiligo, failure to achieve complete repigmentation in a high percentage of patients remains a major drawback. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of postoperative UV-B supplementation to surgically repigmented vitiligo patches. The study included 20 patients with localized non-progressive vitiligo not responding to medical treatment or phototherapy. Patients were subdivided randomly into two groups [I, II] each including 10 patients. Patients in group I were treated by minigrafting only, while group II patients were treated by minigrafting followed by narrow band- UVB phototherapy. The current study showed that the combination of the surgical treatment [minigrafting] with the phototherapy [NB-UVB] was more effective in repigmenting focal and segmental stable vitiligo than treating it only surgically. The study recommends the use of narrow-band UVB as an adjuvant therapy after surgical repigmentation of vitiligo

release of resistin by explants of human visceral and posterior subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue

The present study was designed to compare the amount of resistin hormone released by explants of human adipose tissue in primary culture either from the visceral fat compartment or from posterior subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue mass [PSAATM]. Visceral omental and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissues, representing group I and II respectively, were obtained from 30 women undergoing abdominoplasty with concomitant procedures necessitating opening of the peritoneal cavity. Isolation of fat cells from adipose tissue was done according to the method of Fain et al At the end of the isolation, each group was further subdivided into 4 subgroups [a-d] according to the separation method which were [a] represented explants of adipose tissue, [b] represented adipose tissue debris remaining after digestion of minced adipose tissue, [c] represented non-fat [Stromal-Vascular [SV]] cells, and [d] represented fat cells. Resistin was assayed in each of the 8 subgroups at 24 hours and 48 hours. The release of resistin over 24 h was about half that seen at 48 h by all subgroups. There was a significant greater release of resistin by explants of adipose tissue, adipose tissue debris, SV cells, and fat cells subgroups of omental adipose tissue when compared to the subgroups of subcutaneous adipose tissue explants. It could be concluded that resistin is made and released at much higher levels by the omental adipose tissues than subcutaneous adipose tissues. Whether or not resistin is produced by: the fat cells or non-fat cells of human adipose tissue, needs further investigations