Abstract: Objective To investigate the relationship between the activity of vitiligo and the serum levels of IgG and IgM anti-tyrosinase antibodies and sICAM-1. Methods Anli-tyrosinase, anti-melanocyte antibodies and sICAM-1 were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results The average titres of IgG and IgM antibodies in the sera of patients with vitiligo were 0.316 and 0.238 respectively, which were significantly higher than those of the healthy control (both P<0.001). In the case of the two anti-tyrosinase antibodies, patients with active vitiligo had significantly higher titers than those with stable vitiligo (P<0.001); patients with diffuse vitiligo had significantly higher titers than those with localized vitiligo (P<0.001). The titres of IgG and IgM anti-tyrosinase antibodies were correlated positively with the levels of IgG and IgM antimelanocyte antibodies (both P<0.001). In the case of sICAM-1, patients with vitiligo had higher average level than the healthy control (P<0.001); patients with active vitiligo had higher average level than those with stable vitiligo (P<0.001); patients with diffuse vitiligo had higher average level than those with localized vitiligo (P<0.001). There was no significant difference (P>0.05) in the serum level of sICAM-1 between the healthy control and patients with stable vitiligo or localized vitiligo. Conclusions Both the serum levels of IgG and IgM anti-tyrosinase antibodies and sICAM-1 have a stong correlation with the activity and severity of vitiligo.

Key words: Vitiligo, Anti-tyrosinase antibody, Anti-melanocyte antibody, Inlercellular adhesion molecule-1