People with Vitiligo - Vitiligo Cure - Vitiligo Treatment

Scientists from the University of Cincinnati and Tokyo Medical University have made a significant discovery towards manipulating skin tone and color. The entailments of this research ranged from helping doctors develop more natural looking bio-engineered skin grafts to helping cosmetics companies build up new products for getting the perfect sunless tan. This research study showed how to manipulate skin tone and color using cells that were considered to play no important role in this function.

Gerald Weissmann said this study should lead to bio-engineered skin grafts that are similar to natural skin tone and color of recipients which may reduce the visibility of scars. This study also opened the door to new types of cosmetics which is grounded on the understanding of how and why skin deep differences in appearance evolved over millions of years.

Researchers have proven that Melanocytes (cells responsible for pigmentation) can be controlled by most occurring skin cells called Keratinocytes which does not produce any pigment of their own. Working with bio-engineered skin grafts the researchers dealt with various mixtures Keratinocytes from people with diverse skin types and colors.

The researchers have determined that using Keratinocytes on bio-engineered skin graft from individuals with a lighter skin had a lightening effect on the material, while Keratinocytes from individuals with a darker skin had a darkening effect. This is a significant discovery as it shows a link between Keratinocytes and Melanocytes.

The senior researcher Raymond Boissy said that this study would help individuals with pigment diseases such as Vitiligo, melasma and age spotting by making their skin more healthy looking.

Source: http://www.faseb.org/

Melanin (insoluble pigment that gives color to skin & hair) is produced by Melanocytes (cell in the basal layer of skin) and then distributed to other cells. But not every cell in layers of skins gets pigmented.

Researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cutaneous Biology Research Center (CBRC) have answered the question about delivery of melanin to appropriate locations.

“Pigment recipient cells essentially tell Melanocytes where to deposit melanin, and the pattern of those recipients determines pigment patterns. Recipient cells act like the outlines in a child’s coloring book; as recipient cells develop, they form a ‘picture’ that is initially colorless but is then ‘colored in’ by the Melanocytes.” said Janice Brissette (lead researcher).

Humans’ melanin is deposited in both the skin and hair whereas in mammals like mice it is deposited primarily in the coat, leaving the skin beneath the coat un-pigmented. Melanocytes deposit melanin through cellular extensions called dendrites that extend to other cells in the epidermis (the outer layer of skin) or the hair follicles. But the mechanism that determines whether melanin is delivered to a particular cell is unknown.

The MGH-CBRC research team supposed that a mouse gene known as Foxn1 might have some involvement. Lack of Foxn1 is responsible for ‘nude mice,’ which possess hair that are brittle and this leads to complete hairlessness and other skin diseases. A similar disorder exists in humans with inactivation of the related gene.

The researchers developed a strain of transgenic mice in which Foxn1 was misexpressed in cells that do not synthesize melanin because of which normally colorless areas became pigmented. When they examined the skin of the transgenic mice it appeared that Melanocytes were contacting and delivering melanin to the cells that had Foxn1 abnormally activated. The corresponding tissues of normal mice had no pigment.

Examination of human skin samples revealed the human version of Foxn1 which was also expressed in cells known to be pigment recipient cells. Further experimentation exposed that the Foxn1 signals Melanocytes through a protein called Fgf2 whose levels rise with the rise in Foxn1 expression.

“Foxn1 makes epithelial cells into pigment recipients, which attract Melanocytes and stimulate pigment transfer, engineering their own pigmentation,” says Brissette. She and her team still signals that the Foxn1/Fgf2 pathway probably has additional functions in the skin and there may be other pathways responsible for the targeting of pigment.

“We know that Foxn1 and Fgf2 act in concert with other factors and function within a larger network of genes. Our next step will be to identify other genes that can confer the pigment recipient phenotype or control the targeting of pigment,” added Brissette. Her research explains disorders such as Vitiligo, age spots, the graying of hair and even the deadly melanocyte-based skin cancer melanoma.

Source

According to a report in the March issue of Archives of Dermatology, “An isolated, inbred Romanian community has a higher than average frequency of the skin disease Vitiligo and other autoimmune diseases, suggesting a genetic variation that may indicate susceptibility to the condition in a broader population.”

Vitiligo is skin disorder in which white colored progressive patches appear on different parts of the body. This happens because of the decrease in the number of Melanocytes (pigment producing cells). 0.38 percent of the whites are affected by Vitiligo and this happens with similar frequency in populations worldwide. Researchers are trying to key out the genes responsible of susceptibility to Vitiligo so that effective treatments can be developed.

The researchers studied 1673 residents of geographically isolated community in Northern Romania between 2001 and 2006, there they identified patients with Vitiligo and collected information on demographic data, genealogies, occurrence of other diseases and family structure. Patients’ relatives were also examined in this research activity.

During this research activity the researchers found 51 patients with Vitiligo. The authors say that “The 2.9 percent frequency of Vitiligo in the study community is 19.3 times its 0.15 percent frequency in the five surrounding villages, 7.5 times that among whites on the island of Bornholm, 5.7 times that among individuals in Calcutta, India and 22.5 times that among Han Chinese in Shaanxi Province, China, the only other populations for which empirically determined prevalence estimates have been published.” Rates of other autoimmune diseases were also increased; these diseases included thyroid disease, adult-onset type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.

According this research 36.5 is the average age at which symptoms of Vitiligo first developed this average age is greater than the average age of onset among white individuals i.e. 24.2 years. Analysis indicated that environmental exposure work as a trigger for Vitiligo. The authors wrote that the disease susceptibility appears to involve a main genetic component; actual onset of Vitiligo in genetically susceptible people seems to need exposure to environmental triggers.

The researchers concluded that “While this gene variant is of particular importance in this isolated special population, it likely is also involved in disease susceptibility in the broader white population and, thus, is of broader importance.”

Source

Many people believe that gray hair is a sign of wisdom but scientists have proved that wisdom has nothing to do with it. Researchers say that our hair turn gray because of the massive development of hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide is massively built up by wear and tear of hair follicles. The hydrogen peroxide blocks the normal synthesis of melanin (substance that gives skin/hair its color).

Gerald Weissmann, MD, Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal told that our hair cells make a little bit of hydrogen peroxide, but as we grew older, this little bit becomes a lot. We get our hair pigment bleached from within, and this bleaching causes our hair to turn gray and then white.

Researchers made this discovery by analyzing cell cultures of human hair follicles. They observed that the development of hydrogen peroxide was caused by a reduction of an enzyme that collapse hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen (catalase). They also found out that hair follicles could not restore the harm caused by the hydrogen peroxide because of low-levels of enzymes that generally serve this function (MSR A and B). It is also noted that the high levels of hydrogen peroxide and low levels of MSR A and B, disrupt the formation of an enzyme (tyrosinase) that directs to the production of melanin in hair follicles.

In simple words, our hair follicles (a tube of tissue under the skin that surrounds root of every strand of hair) have certain number of pigment cells. These cells produce a chemical called melanin; this melanin gives color to our hair. As people grow older the pigment cells in their hair follicles gradually die due to more production of hydrogen peroxide and when fewer pigment cells are left in a hair follicle then that strand of hair starts becoming lighter and lighter because of reduction of melanin. This can happen at any age. In some people it starts at a younger and in others it might start at a later stage. It depends on one’s genes.

Report published online in The FASEB Journal.

Vitiligo can not be cured completely but many different treatments can be helpful to decrease progression of Vitiligo.
You can choose not to treat vitiligo if white patch are on covered area of body, people are not much concerned because these are not noticed by other people. In the same way white patches are not a big problem for fair skinned people. They avoid tanning of skin, so that white patches are not clearly different each.

Vitiligo treatment options are :-

• Skin camouflage.
  It is to cover the affected skin area.

• Treatment that reserve changes in skin.

• Treatment to de-pigment the skin completely.

• Protection of lot skin by use of sun blocker.

• Skin Camouflage

Colored cover creams are used on which skin patches of Vitiligo. These creams does not change the real color of skin but but improves skin appearance. If we chose this option first goal to choose the color cream, which should match skin color of patient. The creams can cover white patched, which greatly increase self confidence. There are organizations like British Red Cross, that provide free skin Camouflage service.
These are self tanning lotion available, which can hide Vitiligo. The disadvantage is that,the lotions are needed to be applied frequently and also exact skin color matches are not available.

1:     Treatment that reverse changes in skin.

No single treatment available works well for Vitiligo. Some drugs slow down progression of Vitiligo, while other help to regain pigment and color same extant. Treatment is different on types of Vitiligo. There are a few treatment resoli.

2:     Steroid Creams

These creams are used, when a small patch of Vitiligo develops. These are used for a short period ( 2-6 month). It can help to slow or stop progression. If disease skin color may return over treated area. Long term use of steroid is harmful because steroid side affects can occur, like thinning of skin and stretch marks. Steriods work by suppressing immune system.

3:     Tacrolirium Cream

This is not first choice. This can be an alternative to steroids. Its efficiency is limited .it can help to regain skin color in a few patients especially on face. It also acts by suppression of immune system.

4:     PUVA Treatment

PUVA is psoralen and ultra violet A. in this therapy a special medicine psoralen is taken ,
so the patient’s skin becomes sensitive to light. The skin is then treated ultra violet A,
from a special machine. This treatment is time consuming, it is needed twice a week for
6-12 months.  PUVA can cause sun burn type reactions or skin Freckling. There are
chances of re-occurrence of white patches after PUVA treatment.