The Genetics of Vitiligo in Korean Patients.
- Author:
You Chan KIM
1
;
Wook KIM
;
Seung Kyung HANN
Author Information
1. Department of Dermatology, Dankook University College of Medicine, Chunan, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Genetics;
Polygenic nature;
Vitiligo
- MeSH:
Genes, X-Linked;
Genetics*;
Humans;
Incidence;
Mining;
Vitiligo*;
Wills
- From:Korean Journal of Dermatology
1996;34(6):968-972
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
BABCKGROUND: Vitiligo is a cornmon disorder whose cause is not well understood. Up to 30% of patients had another family member with vitiligo which means that vitiligo is a heritable condition. We could not find any study for the genetics of vitiligo in Korean literature. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to clarify how genetic factors are involved in the pathogenesis of vitiligo in Korean patients. METHODS: We analyzed the 65 Korean vitiligo probands and their families. Each family was ascertained through a proband afflicted with vitiligo. RESULTS: 1. Focal type of vitiligo(44.6%) appeared to be with the highest frequency followed by the non-segmental generalized type(35.4%) and segmental type(20.0%). 2. The t,ype of vitiligo was not related with sex (p>0.9, X(2)(d.l=2) = 0.14). 3. There was a clear pattern of a familial aggregation of the vitiligo disease. In 29(44.6%) of these 65 proband families, at least one first-degree relative of the proband had vitiligo. The incidence of people affected among their 789 relatives (first, second and third-degree) was also found to be 9.13+/-1.03% 4. Several families in this study were shown to have father-son transmission of vitiligo, which indicates that vitiligo does not fit an x-linked inheritance. 5. There is a statistically significant departure frorn the expected which is inconsistent with a utosomal dominant inheritance (p<0.001, X(2)(d.l=2) = 52.32). 6. A single recessive model at the autosomal locus is not an explanation in deter mining the cause of vitiligo. The threshold trait among first-degree relatives(8.8%) shows a tendency to approach the square root of the frequency in the general population(10%) compared to those of dominant(50%) or recessive(25%) models. This result is consistent with a model of multifactorial inheritence for vitiligo. CONCLUSION: These result indicate that vitiligo is determined by a polygenic nature.
