Autoantibody responses to melanocytes in the depigmenting skin disease vitiligo

Vitiligo is an acquired hypomelanotic disorder characterised by circumscribed depigmented macules in the skin resulting from the loss of functional melanocytes. Population surveys have shown a prevalence ranging from 0.38 to 1.13%. The frequent association of vitiligo with autoimmune diseases, together with studies demonstrating that vitiligo patients can have autoantibodies and autoreactive T lymphocytes against pigment cells supports the theory that there is an autoimmune involvement in the aetiology of the disease. Although the pathogenic mechanisms of T cells have recently been well studied in vitiligo, the role of autoantibodies in the disease remains obscure. However, even if antibodies to melanocytes are not an agent of the disease, identifying their target antigens could provide for the development of diagnostic tests that are not yet available for vitiligo and could serve as markers for important T cell responses in patients with the disease.