Abstract:

Objective To measure the serum levels of 15 neuroendocrine and immune factors, including angiotensin-Ⅱ （ANG-Ⅱ）, endorphin-β （EP-β）, interferon-γ （IFN-γ）, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 （sICAM-1）, 5-thrombotonin （5-HT）, interleukin-10 （IL-10）, IgM, tumor necrosis-α （TNF-α）, IL-8, IL-6, IgG, IL-2, norepinephrine, cortisol and adrenaline in patients with vitiligo, and to analyze their association with the development of vitiligo according to traditional Uyghur medicine theory. Methods Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was conducted to measure the serum levels of the above 15 neuroendocrine and immune factors in 175 patients with vitiligo and 60 normal human controls. Results There was a significant increase in the serum levels of ANG-Ⅱ, EP-β, IFN-γ, sICAM-1, 5-HT, IL-10, IgG, norepinephrine, cortisol and adrenaline, together with a decrease in those of TNF-α, IL-8, IL-2 and IL-6 in patients with vitiligo compared with the controls （all P < 0.01）. No statistical difference was observed for the serum level of IgM between the patients and controls （P > 0.05）. Increased serum levels of ANG-Ⅱ, 5-HT, IL-8 and cortisol were noted in patients with stable vitiligo in comparison with those with progressive vitiligo （all P < 0.01）, while the levels of the other factors were similar between the stable and progressive vitiligo patients. Conclusions The development of vitilito is a comprehensive process with the involvement of various neuroendocrine and immune factors, and whether the conclusion agrees with the traditional Uyghur medicine theory that imbalanced "kuwiti tabiiy" ［"Nature power" （of human body）］ induces vitiligo derserves further studies.

Key words: vitiligo Uigur-medicine neural endocrine immune associativity