Increased basic fibroblast growth factor levels in serum and blister fluid from patients with vitiligo

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is a pleiotropic growth factor which has a high capacity for stimulating normal melanocyte proliferation and suppressing melanogenesis. The close and complicated relationship between bFGF, melanocyte proliferation and melanogenesis raises the theoretical possibility that bFGF may also be involved in the pathomechanism leading to vitiligo. The aim of this study was to compare the serum and suction blister fluid bFGF levels of vitiligo patients (9 females, 11 males) with those of healthy controls (3 females, 8 males). Vitiliginous skin-blister fluid bFGF levels and serum levels were significantly higher in vitiligo patients compared with healthy normal controls. Our data indicate that bFGF might be involved in the pathogenetic chain of events leading to vitiligo. Further studies are needed to define the exact role of bFGF and various other melanocytic mitogens in this disease.