Abstract:

Shi Yongjian, Liu Yuanyuan, Liu Ying Department of Dermatology, The Second Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan 250033, China Corresponding author: Shi Yongjian, Email: syj623@163.com 【Abstract】 Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of autologous epidermal grafting combined with narrow-band ultraviolet B （NB-UVB） radiation for the treatment of vitiligo, and to explore their possible action mechanisms. Methods Totally, 30 patients with vitiligo were randomly and equally divided into 2 groups: epidermal grafting group treated with autologous epidermal grafting alone, and combination group treated with both autologous epidermal grafting and NB-UVB radiation. Fifteen healthy volunteers served as the healthy control group. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was performed to detect the levels of interleukin-18 （IL-18）, tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 （sICAM-1） in interstitial fluid from the patients before and after the treatment, as well as from the healthy controls. Therapeutic effects were evaluated after 3-month treatment. Results Before the treatment, the epidermal grafting group and combination group both showed significantly increased levels of IL-18 （0.985 ± 0.305 μg/L, 1.008 ± 0.399 μg/L, respectively） , TNF-α （1.132 ± 0.313 μg/L, 1.147 ± 0.474 μg/L, respectively） and sICAM-1 （1.215 ± 0.284 μg/L, 1.221 ± 0.432 μg/L, respectively） in interstitial fluid compared with the healthy control group （all P < 0.01）. The levels of the three cytokines in the combination group almost all returned to normal after the 3-month treatment. In addition, the combination group showed a significantly higher response rate compared with the epidermal grafting group （68.9% vs. 43.8%, P < 0.05）. Conclusion Immune abnormalities exist in local lesions of patients with vitiligo, and NB-UVB radiation can increase the success rate of epidermal grafting likely by regulating the body′s immune function.