A mouse model of vitiligo induced by monobenzone

The paucity of vitiligo animal models limits the understanding of vitiligo pathogenesis and the development of therapies for the skin disorder. In this study, we developed a new mouse model of vitiligo by topically applying the skin-depigmenting agent monobenzone on mice. We demonstrated that monobenzone-induced skin depigmentation on the non-exposed sites and that the severity of lesions depended on drug dosage. The result of the histological examination of the depigmented skin indicated loss of epidermal melanocytes and perilesional accumulation of CD8⁺ T cells. Furthermore, the monobenzone-induced depigmentation of the Rag1 gene knockout did not appear on the non-exposed sites, supporting the involvement of infiltrating CD8⁺ T cells in melanocyte destruction. Resemblance in histological characteristics and pathogenesis between monobenzone-induced depigmentation and active human vitiligo suggests good potential of our mouse model for use in vitiligo research.