Plasma and Skin Tissue Fluid Levels of beta-endorphin in Patients with Vitiligo / 中华皮肤科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the role of beta endorphin (?-EP) in the pathogenesis of vitiligo. Methods Radioimmunoassay (RIA) was used to measure the levels of ?-EP in plasma from 40 patients and tissue fluid of lesional and non lesional skin from 33 patients with vitiligo. Results Plasma levels of ?-EP were significantly higher in patients with generalized(11.74?3.47 pmol/L), local(8.31?2.57) and segmental(8.61?2.61) vitiligo than those in normal controls(6.69?1.46). Tissue fluid levels of ?-EP were significantly higher in lesional skin (9.25?4.49 and 10.24?4.37) than those in non lesional skin (5.50?2.84 and 6.12?1.61) from patients with local and segmental vitiligo. Increased levels of ?-EP were observed in tissue fluid from both lesional and non lesional skin in patients with generalized vitiligo, however, no significant difference of ?-EP levels was found between the two kinds of skin tissue. Conclusion It is suggested that ?-EP might play a role in the pathogenesis of vitiligo.