TY - JOUR ID - 120836 TI - Correlation between serum α-MSH and vitamin D levels in vitiligo patients JO - Iranian Journal of Dermatology JA - IJD LA - en SN - AU - Abdalla, Mohammad Ahmad AU - Nayaf, Mohammad Shahatha AU - Hussein, Sura Zahim AD - Department of Human Anatomy and Histology, Tikrit University College of Medicine, Iraq AD - Department of Medicine, Tikrit University College of Medicine, Iraq AD - Salah Al-Deen Health Directorate, Clinical Biochemistry Unit, Iraq Y1 - 2020 PY - 2020 VL - 23 IS - 4 SP - 163 EP - 167 KW - Vitiligo KW - Vitamin D KW - α-MSH DO - 10.22034/ijd.2020.120836 N2 - 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.   UR - https://www.iranjd.ir/article_120836.html L1 - https://www.iranjd.ir/article_120836_806da3b6fbf202638b16bf6ebeb50ffe.pdf ER -