Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Department of Human Anatomy and Histology, Tikrit University College of Medicine, Iraq
2 Department of Medicine, Tikrit University College of Medicine, Iraq
3 Salah Al-Deen Health Directorate, Clinical Biochemistry Unit, Iraq
Abstract
Background: Vitiligo is a skin disease caused by the destruction of melanocytes of the epidermis, leading to well-defined white patches that are often distributed symmetrically. The presentstudy aimed to determine the correlation relationship between the α-MSH and vitamin D serum levels among Iraqi vitiligo patients.
Materials and Methods: This study was done on outpatients who attended the Dermatology and Venereology Consulting Clinic of Salah-Al Deen General Hospital from November 2017 to March 2018. One hundred and ninety individuals were stratified into 110 cases of vitiligo and 80 healthy controls. Serum assays for α-MSH and vitamin D levels were sent for all subjects.
Results: Vitiligo patients had significantly lower α-MSH levels and vitamin D levels than the controls (P ≤ 0.01). There was a significant, positive correlation between α-MSH and vitamin D levels in vitiligo patients overall (r = 0.236; P ≤ 0.01), though this correlation was negative within the male and female subgroups (r = -0.392 and -0.661, respectively; P ≤ 0.01).
Conclusion: Compared to normal controls, vitiligo patients had significantly lower levels of α-MSH and vitamin D. These findings may back the normalization of both α-MSH and vitamin D levels in vitiligo patients as an important step toward disease recovery.
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