Vitamin deficiencies/hypervitaminosis and the skin.

Vitamins are an indispensable food source and important owing to the enzyme cofactor and catalytic roles they play in the body. Fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, K, and B12, are stored in the body and can cause problems with their excessive accumulation. Other vitamins rarely accumulate in the body because they dissolve in water and are excreted through the kidneys. Alcoholism, strict diets, insufficient parental nutrition, and gastrointestinal absorption problems may be included in the causes of vitamin deficiencies. Although clinical findings of vitamin deficiencies display different characteristics depending on the vitamins, the signs that generally occur are cutaneous pigmentation, pigmentation on mucous membranes, palmoplantar keratoderma characterized by fissures, palmar streaking, yellow streaking on the nails, nail layering, and intranail hemorrhage.

Evaluation of advanced oxidation protein products, prooxidant-antioxidant balance, and total antioxidant capacity in untreated vitiligo patients.

BACKGROUND: Vitiligo is a chronic, common disease of unknown etiology, and oxidative stress is suggested to have a role in its etiopathogenesis. OBJECTIVE: Advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs), prooxidant-antioxidant balance (PAB), and ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) were evaluated regarding their role in the pathogenesis of vitiligo as well as their relationship with clinical presentation and disease severity, and these parameters were compared with those of healthy controls. METHODS: The study included 53 patients with vitiligo and 20 healthy volunteers as the control group. AOPP level, PAB, and FRAP were determined by colorimetric methods. RESULTS: PAB and FRAP level were significantly higher in patients with vitiligo than in healthy controls (p<0.001). The AOPP levels in vitiligo patients were not statistically significantly higher than those in healthy controls. The Vitiligo Area Scoring Index positively correlated with disease duration (rs: 0.531, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of AOPP and PAB status in vitiligo. PAB may be used as an indicator for oxidative stress in the etiopathogenesis of vitiligo. Our results show that these parameters may play a major role in the melanocyte damage observed in vitiligo. Further studies are required to confirm the mechanisms underlying this effect.