Vitiligo: pathomechanisms and genetic polymorphism of susceptible genes.
Indian J Exp Biol
;
2006 Jul; 44(7): 526-39
Article
in English
| IMSEAR
| ID: sea-58217
ABSTRACT
Vitiligo is a depigmenting disorder resulting from the loss of melanocytes in the skin and affects 1-4% of the world population. Incidence of vitiligo is found to be 0.5-2.5% in India with a high prevalence of 8.8% in Gujarat and Rajasthan states. The cellular and molecular mechanisms that lead to melanocyte destruction in this disorder are not yet been fully elucidated. Genetic factors, neural factors, toxic ROS metabolites, autoantibodies and autoreactive T lymphocytes may be the causative agents for the selective destruction of melanocytes. Three major hypotheses of pathogenesis of vitiligo are neural, autoimmune and oxidative stress hypotheses, however none of them explains the pathogenesis of vitiligo in toto. Genetics of vitiligo is characterized by incomplete penetrance, multiple susceptibility loci and genetic heterogeneity. Recent advances in this field are linkage and association of candidate gene studies. The linkage and association studies provide a strong evidence for the presence of multiple vitiligo susceptibility genes on different chromosomes. Several candidate genes for vitiligo are identified from different populations. In this review, we have provide an overview of different hypotheses of vitiligo pathogenesis, and discuss the recent advances in this field with special reference to linkage, association and candidate gene approach.
Full text:
Available
Index:
IMSEAR (South-East Asia)
Main subject:
Polymorphism, Genetic
/
Vitiligo
/
Humans
/
Apoptosis
/
Genetic Predisposition to Disease
/
Immunity, Cellular
/
Genetic Linkage
/
Animals
/
Melanocytes
/
Antibody Formation
Type of study:
Prognostic study
Language:
English
Journal:
Indian J Exp Biol
Year:
2006
Type:
Article
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