Editorial: vigour, vitiligo and the RPE. by Goding, C

Alopecia totalis and vitiligo in common variable immunodeficiency. by Spickett, G, Prentice, A, Wallington, T, Webster, A, Chapel, H

“…In all three cases, hair loss developed after the diagnosis of immune deficiency; one of the patients also had extensive vitiligo. A fourth patient had vitiligo in the absence of alopecia. …”

High frequency of skin-homing melanocyte-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes in autoimmune vitiligo. by Ogg, G, Rod Dunbar, P, Romero, P, Chen, J, Cerundolo, V

“…Vitiligo is an autoimmune condition characterized by loss of epidermal melanocytes. …”

How persistent stigma and discrimination keep people with visible skin diseases out of jobs: vitiligo in Brazil today by Silveira, LP, Grijsen, ML, Follador, I, Dellatorre, G

Immunopolarization of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells to Type-1-like is associated with melanocyte loss in human vitiligo. by Wańkowicz-Kalińska, A, van den Wijngaard, R, Tigges, B, Westerhof, W, Ogg, G, Cerundolo, V, Storkus, W, Das, P

“…Vitiligo is an autoimmune condition characterized by loss of epidermal melanocytes. …”

Vitiligo pathogenesis: autoimmune disease, genetic defect, excessive reactive oxygen species, calcium imbalance, or what else? by Schallreuter, K, Bahadoran, P, Picardo, M, Slominski, A, Elassiuty, Y, Kemp, E, Giachino, C, Liu, J, Luiten, R, Lambe, T, Le Poole, I, Dammak, I, Onay, H, Zmijewski, M, Dell'Anna, M, Zeegers, M, Cornall, R, Paus, R, Ortonne, J, Westerhof, W

“…The pathobiology of vitiligo has been hotly disputed for as long as one remembers, and has been a magnet for endless speculation. …”

Vitiligo pathogenesis: autoimmune disease, genetic defect, excessive reactive oxygen species, calcium imbalance, or what else? by Schallreuter, K, Bahadoran, P, Picardo, M, Slominski, A, Elassiuty, Y, Kemp, E, Giachino, C, Liu, J, Luiten, R, Lambe, T, Le Poole, I, Dammak, I, Onay, H, Zmijewski, M, Dell'Anna, M, Zeegers, M, Cornall, R, Paus, R, Ortonne, J, Westerhof, W

Vitiligo pathogenesis: autoimmune disease, genetic defect, excessive reactive oxygen species, calcium imbalance, or what else? Commentary 7 by Lambe, T, Cornall, R

CD4 T cell-dependent autoimmunity against a melanocyte neoantigen induces spontaneous vitiligo and depends upon Fas-Fas ligand interactions. by Lambe, T, Leung, J, Bouriez-Jones, T, Silver, K, Makinen, K, Crockford, T, Ferry, H, Forrester, J, Cornall, R

“…Better understanding of tolerance and autoimmunity toward melanocyte-specific Ags is needed to develop effective treatment for vitiligo and malignant melanoma; yet, a systematic assessment of these mechanisms has been hampered by the difficulty in tracking autoreactive T cells. …”

Cicatricial pemphigoid with severe laryngeal involvement necessitating tracheostomy (laryngeal cicatricial pemphigoid). by Gaspar, Z, Wojnarowska, F

“…We report the case of a 68-year-old woman with vitiligo, primary hypothyroidism and cicatricial pemphigoid with severe laryngeal involvement necessitating tracheostomy.…”

Melanocytes: the new Black. by Goding, C

“…Because loss of melanocytes gives a clear pigmentation phenotype yet is non-lethal, over 130 genes implicated in the development or function of this cell type have been identified to date, and in humans the loss of melanocytes or their ability to produce pigment, or transport or transfer melanosomes is associated with several diseases such as vitiligo, albinism and Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome. Importantly, the effective combination of genetics, cell and molecular biology possible with this cell type is attracting an increasing number of researchers focussed on understanding how cells coordinate survival, proliferation, differentiation and stem cell maintenance.…”

Simulation of parabolic reflectors for ultraviolet phototherapy by Grimes, D

“…Ultraviolet (UVR) phototherapy is widely used to treat an array of skin conditions, including psoriasis, eczema and vitiligo. For such interventions, a quantified dose is vital if the treatment is to be both biologically effective and to avoid the detrimental effects of over-dosing. …”

Cutaneous factors related to the risk of malignant melanoma. by Beral, V, Evans, S, Shaw, H, Milton, G

“…A history of psoriasis was also more common in cases than controls (RR = 3.0) as was a history of vitiligo (RR = 1.8). A history of acne appeared to be protective (RR = 0.4) as did a history suggestive of chloasma (RR = 0.6) and premature greying of the hair (RR = 0.6). …”

Prevalence and relative risk of other autoimmune diseases in subjects with autoimmune thyroid disease. by Boelaert, K, Newby, P, Simmonds, M, Holder, R, Carr-Smith, J, Heward, J, Manji, N, Allahabadia, A, Armitage, M, Chatterjee, K, Lazarus, J, Pearce, S, Vaidya, B, Gough, S, Franklyn, J

“…Relative risks of almost all other autoimmune diseases in Graves' disease or Hashimoto's thyroiditis were significantly increased (>10 for pernicious anemia, systemic lupus erythematosus, Addison's disease, celiac disease, and vitiligo). There was relative "clustering" of Graves' disease in the index case with parental hyperthyroidism and of Hashimoto's thyroiditis in the index case with parental hypothyroidism. …”

KUVA (khellin plus ultraviolet A) stimulates proliferation and melanogenesis in normal human melanocytes and melanoma cells in vitro. by Carlie, G, Ntusi, N, Hulley, P, Kidson, S

“…BACKGROUND: Khellin is a naturally occurring furochromone which, when combined with artificial ultraviolet (UV) A or solar irradiation (KUVA), is reported to repigment vitiligo skin as effectively as PUVA photochemotherapy. …”

Phase I study in melanoma patients of a vaccine with peptide-pulsed dendritic cells generated in vitro from CD34(+) hematopoietic progenitor cells. by Mackensen, A, Herbst, B, Chen, J, Köhler, G, Noppen, C, Herr, W, Spagnoli, G, Cerundolo, V, Lindemann, A

“…Clinical and immunological responses consisted of anti-tumor responses in 2 patients, increased melanoma peptide-specific delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions in 4 patients, significant expansion of Melan-A- and gp100-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of 1 patient after vaccination and development of vitiligo in another HLA-A2(+) patient. Our data indicate that the vaccination of peptide-pulsed DCs is capable of inducing clinical and systemic tumor-specific immune responses without provoking major side effects.…”

Autoimmune disease in families with multiple sclerosis: a population-based study. by Ramagopalan, S, Dyment, D, Valdar, W, Herrera, B, Criscuoli, M, Yee, I, Sadovnick, A, Ebers, G

“…We asked patients and controls whether they had any of ten autoimmune diseases: Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, psoriasis, pernicious anaemia, systemic lupus erythematosus, autoimmune thyroid disease, vitiligo, and myasthenia gravis. MS probands were also asked whether their first-degree relatives had Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, or type 1 diabetes. …”

Epidemiology, management and the associated burden of mental health illness, atopic and autoimmune conditions, and common infections in alopecia areata: protocol for an observation... by Harries, M, Macbeth, AE, Holmes, S, Thompson, AR, Chiu, WS, Gallardo, WR, Messenger, AG, Tziotzios, C, de Lusignan, S

“…Within the autoimmune/atopic associations theme, we will examine the prevalence of atopic (atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, asthma) and autoimmune conditions (Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, coeliac disease, type 1 diabetes, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Graves’ disease, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), polymyalgia rheumatica, Sjögren’s syndrome, psoriasis, vitiligo, multiple sclerosis, pernicious anaemia) in people with AA compared with matched controls. …”

Incidence, prevalence, and co-occurrence of autoimmune disorders over time and by age, sex, and socioeconomic status: a population-based cohort study of 22 million individuals in t... by Conrad, N, Misra, S, Verbakel, JY, Verbeke, G, Molenberghs, G, Taylor, PN, Mason, J, Sattar, N, McMurray, JJV, McInnes, IB, Khunti, K, Cambridge, G

“…Seasonal variations were observed for childhood-onset type 1 diabetes (more commonly diagnosed in winter) and vitiligo (more commonly diagnosed in summer), and regional variations were observed for a range of conditions. …”