Vitiligo is a long-term condition that causes pale, white patches to develop
on the skin - in severe cases these cover the whole body. Vitiligo affects one
in every hundred people and can strike anyone at any time, often leading to
depression and isolation - especially amongst children. We need your help in
finding a cure for this debilitating and distressing disease and to support the
millions of vitiligo sufferers across the globe.
Although multiple hypotheses have been suggested as potential triggers that cause vitiligo, studies strongly imply that changes in the immune system are responsible for the condition. Vitiligo has been proposed to be a multifactorial disease with genetic susceptibility and environmental factors both thought to play a role. The TYR gene encodes the protein tyrosinase, which is not a component of the immune system, but is an enzyme of the melanocyte that catalyzes melanin biosynthesis, and a major autoantigen in generalized vitiligo.
Causes of Vitiligo
Immune
Variations in genes that are part of the immune system or part of melanocytes have both been associated with vitiligo. It is also thought to be caused by the immune system attacking and destroying the melanocytes of the skin. A genomewide association study found approximately 36 independent susceptibility loci for generalized vitiligo.
Autoimmune associations
Vitiligo is sometimes associated with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis,rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes mellitus, psoriasis, Addison's disease, pernicious anemia, alopecia areata, and systemic lupus erythematosus.
Among the inflammatory products of NALP1 are caspase 1 and caspase 7, which activate the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β. Interleukin-1β is expressed at high levels in patients with vitiligo.In one of the mutations, the amino acid leucine in the NALP1 protein was replaced by histidine (Leu155->His). The original protein and sequence is highly conserved in evolution, and is found in humans,chimpanzee, rhesus monkey, and the bush baby. Addison's disease (typically an autoimmune destruction of the adrenal glands) may also be seen in individuals with vitiligo.
Family history (heredity)
Although multiple hypotheses have been suggested as potential triggers that cause vitiligo, studies strongly imply that changes in the immune system are responsible for the condition. Vitiligo has been proposed to be a multifactorial disease with genetic susceptibility and environmental factors both thought to play a role. The TYR gene encodes the protein tyrosinase, which is not a component of the immune system, but is an enzyme of the melanocyte that catalyzes melanin biosynthesis, and a major autoantigen in generalized vitiligo.
Causes of Vitiligo
Immune
Variations in genes that are part of the immune system or part of melanocytes have both been associated with vitiligo. It is also thought to be caused by the immune system attacking and destroying the melanocytes of the skin. A genomewide association study found approximately 36 independent susceptibility loci for generalized vitiligo.
Autoimmune associations
Vitiligo is sometimes associated with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis,rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes mellitus, psoriasis, Addison's disease, pernicious anemia, alopecia areata, and systemic lupus erythematosus.
Among the inflammatory products of NALP1 are caspase 1 and caspase 7, which activate the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β. Interleukin-1β is expressed at high levels in patients with vitiligo.In one of the mutations, the amino acid leucine in the NALP1 protein was replaced by histidine (Leu155->His). The original protein and sequence is highly conserved in evolution, and is found in humans,chimpanzee, rhesus monkey, and the bush baby. Addison's disease (typically an autoimmune destruction of the adrenal glands) may also be seen in individuals with vitiligo.
Family history (heredity)
