SPECIAL ARTICLES   

Esperienze Dermatologiche 2012 December;14(4):139-43

Copyright © 2013 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Identification of peripheral parameters of oxidative stress in patients with generalized vitiligo

La Vecchia M. ¹, Pistone G. ¹, Dell’anna M. L. ², Picardo M. ², Bongiorno M. R. ¹

¹ Dipartimento di Dermatologia, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italia; ² Dipartimento di Fisiopatologia cutanea, Istituto Dermatologico del San Gallicano, Roma, Italia

Vitiligo has a multifactorial etiology where, beside the genetic factors, the role of oxidative stress is an important factor together with the presence of an intrinsic damage of melanocytes. The alteration of the redox status was observed not only in melanocytes but also peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PMBC, peripheral blood mononuclear cell). Focusing on these assumptions, we developed a study aiming to determine one or more biochemical parameters, that could identify the active disease in order to define of systemic progression index of the disease related to the redox system. The biochemical parameters analyzed on plasma and PMBC are: catalase enzymatic activity, superoxide dismutase enzymatic activity and the amount of radical species produced. The total antioxidant capacity, determined by the BAP test, was measured only on plasma. Our data indicate that the enzymatic activity of both antioxidants proteins in plasma level does not relate to patients’ clinical characteristics. On the contrary it is possible to find a good correlation between the two antioxidant enzyme at the PMBC level. The production of ROS is increased in patients with stable or regressive vitiligo, as shown by the PMBC level in patients with active vitiligo. Patients with progressive disease, at the time of collection, are characterized by lower values of BAP, while patients in stable phase or repigmenting phase, show higher BAP values. Basing on the data obtained so far, we can assume, therefore, that the alterations are due to a metabolic defect of functionally active cells which are responsible for all of the essential metabolisms, such as PBMC.