Vitiligo and autoantibodies: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Many studies have reported the prevalence of autoantibodies in patients with vitiligo; however, results were inconsistent for some autoantibodies. This study aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence of autoantibodies in vitiligo patients. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature published from inception to Dec 31, 2016 was conducted. Case-control studies with vitiligo patients and a control group were included. The prevalence of anti-thyroperoxidase (ATPO) antibodies, anti-thyroglobulin (ATG) antibodies, antinuclear antibodies (ANA), anti-gastric parietal cell antibodies (AGPCA), anti-smooth muscle antibodies (ASMA), anti-mitochondrial antibodies (AMA), and anti-adrenal antibodies in vitiligo patients were 15.1 %, 9.7 %, 12.5 %, 11.7 %, 12.6 %, 0.2 %, and 2.5 %, respectively. The prevalence of ATPO antibodies (odds ratio [OR]: 3.975; 95 %; confidence interval [CI]: 3.085-5.122), ATG antibodies (OR: 3.759; 95 % CI: 2.554-5.531), ANA (OR: 1.797, 95 % CI: 1.182-2.731), AGPCA (OR: 2.503; 95 % CI: 1.497-2.896), and anti-adrenal antibodies (OR: 9.808, 95 % CI: 1.809-53.159) (Figure 2a-e) were significantly higher in vitiligo patients than in the control group. The routine screening of anti-thyroid antibodies should be performed in vitiligo patients to identify those at high risk of developing autoimmune thyroid disease.