Serum Antibodies to Melanocytes in Patients With Vitiligo Are Predictors of Disease Progression.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the amount of serum antibodies to melanocyte antigens could predict clinical activity or disease progression in patients with vitiligo. A solid-phase enzyme immunoassay was developed to semiquantitate serum antibodies to a human melanocyte extract and was used in 127 patients, 93 of whom showed clinical progression of the disease, while the remaining 34 were quiescent. Results showed different values for clinical sensitivity and specificity depending on the cutoff level for decision, but the overall performance of the test was adequate and supported statistical significance to predict clinical activity/progression or quietness of the disease process.

Treatment of vitiligo with a chimeric monoclonal antibody to CD20: a pilot study.

Five patients with active disseminated vitiligo were given 1g of a chimeric (murine/human) monoclonal antibody to CD20 in a single intravenous infusion and followed-up for 6 months. Three of the patients showed an overt clinical and histological improvement of the disease, one presented slight improvement and the remaining patient showed no changes. Improvement was neither associated with changes in laboratory parameters nor to a specific human leucocyte antigen D-related (HLA-DR) phenotype.

Immunophenotypic characterization of lymphoid cell infiltrates in vitiligo.

The pathogenesis of vitiligo is still controversial. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the nature of lymphoid cells infiltrating depigmented areas of skin in vitiligo. Immunochemical procedures were carried out in biopsies from 20 patients with active lesions to search for cells expressing CD1a, CD2, CD3, CD4, CD5, CD8, CD20, CD25, CD30, CD56, CD68 and CD79a.