Prolactin and vitiligo: proposed autocrine/paracrine actions

Journal of the Egyptian Women s Dermatologic Society

article

Ghada M. El-Hanafy¹  Olfat G. Shaker¹  Aya Ihab¹  Heba A. Abdelkader¹ 

[1] Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University

关键词: autocrine;    paracrine;    pathogenesis;    prolactin;    receptor;    vitiligo;   

DOI  :  10.4103/jewd.jewd_56_20

学科分类：皮肤病学

来源: Egyptian Women s Dermatological Society

【 摘 要 】

Background  The exact cause of vitiligo remains unclear. Several theories have been proposed, including autoimmune and neuroendocrine theories. Prolactin has been studied as an immunomodulatory factor in several autoimmune diseases. Regarding vitiligo, previous studies revealed contradictory results. This is the first study to assess tissue prolactin and prolactin receptor (PRLR) expression in vitiligo. Objective  To measure the level of serum prolactin, tissue prolactin, as well as PRLR in patients with vitiligo vulgaris and controls to verify their possible role in vitiligo pathogenesis. Patients and methods  A case–control study was conducted on 40 participants: 20 patients with vitiligo and 20 age-matched and sex-matched healthy controls. Blood samples were taken to determine the serum prolactin level (ng/ml). Skin biopsies were obtained from the lesional skin of patients and normal skin of controls to determine the level of tissue prolactin (ng/mg) and PRLR (ng/g) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results  Serum and tissue prolactin and PRLR levels were significantly higher in patients than in controls (P<0.001). Tissue prolactin level had a positive correlation with PRLR level (r=0.739, P<0.001). Conclusion  Prolactin plays a role in the pathogenesis of vitiligo, mainly from an intracutaneous position where an autocrine/paracrine loop could have a larger share.

【 授权许可】

CC BY