Clinical Study and Detection of Autoantibodies in Vitiligo Patients.
- Author:
Beom Joon KIM
1
;
Seong Jun SEO
;
Chang Kwun HONG
Author Information
1. Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea. drseo@hanafos.com
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Vitiligo;
Autoantibody
- MeSH:
Addison Disease;
Age of Onset;
Alopecia Areata;
Anemia, Pernicious;
Autoantibodies*;
Endocrine System Diseases;
Healthy Volunteers;
Humans;
Hyperthyroidism;
Hypothyroidism;
Prevalence;
PUVA Therapy;
Rheumatoid Factor;
Thyroid Diseases;
Vitiligo*
- From:Korean Journal of Dermatology
2003;41(11):1463-1470
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Vitiligo has been associated with various disorders including pernicious anemia, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, alopecia areata, Addison's disease, and so on. Autoantibodies against specific organs are also frequently found. However, the positive rates of these autoantibodies' detection by various reporters showed too much diversity to extrapolate a definitive conclusion. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the autoimmune aspects of vitiligo by evaluating the detection rates of various organ-specific autoantibodies. METHODS: We classified vitiligo patients into 2 groups(autoantibody positive group and autoantibody negative group) and 3 types(localized, generalized, and universalis). The overall detection rates of various autoimmune and endocrine diseases were also assessed in patients and the control, which was composed of 40 young healthy volunteers. RESULTS: There were 106 males(33.0%) and 215 females(67.0%) in total 321 vitiligo patients. 115 patients(35.8%) were determined to be autoanitibody positive, and 206 patients(64.2%) were negative. The most frequent type of vitiligo was generalized type in both autoantibody positive and negative group. Mean age of onset was 30.8 years. And there was a statistically significant difference between autoantibody positive(37.6 years) and negative(29.3 years) group(p < 0.05). Average disease duration was 6.5 years in autoantibody positive group and 4.3 years in autoantibody negative group. The positive rates of anti-nuclear, anti-microsomal. anti-smooth muscle antibody, and rheumatoid factor showed no significant differences between vitiligo patients and normal control group(p > 0.05). But the positive rate of antithyroid antibody was significantly higher in vitiligo patients than in normal control(kappa2 = 4.234, p = 0.040). The prevalence rates of autoimmune & endocrine disorders showed no significant differences between vitiligo patients and normal control(p>0.05). The prevalence rates of autoimmune and endocrine disorders were higher in autoantibody positive vitiligo group(33.0%) than in negative group(29.6%), although it was not statistically significant(p>0.05). However, the prevalence rate of thyroid disease itself was significantly higher in autoantibody positive group than in negative group(p = 0.004). Treatment response to PUVA therapy was better in autoantibody positive group than in negative group(p = 0.0003). CONCLUSION: With these results, we were able to conclude that anti-thyroglobulin antibody is more frequently found in vitiligo patients than in normal control. And autoantibody positive vitiligo patients showed higher prevalence rate of thyroid disease and better treatment response to PUVA therapy than in autoantibody negative vitiligo patients. Therefore, the presence of autoantibody in vitiligo patients seems to be related with a better treatment response for PUVA therapy.
