Vitiligo—Knowing the Basics
Figure 1. Blaschko's lines (source: ScienceDirect.com ) Vitiligo is a disorder that causes the presence of pale patchy areas of depigmented skin on the face, hands and wrists; these patches are initially small, but often grow and change in shape . [1] Genetic and environmental factors are important in the pathogenesis of vitiligo. There are many therapies for vitiligo, the most used are local steroids and ultraviolet light . Segmental Vitiligo (SV) vs Nonsegmental Vitiligo Vitiligo results from autoimmune destruction of melanocytes , [21] with elevated prevalence of other autoimmune diseases in patients with vitiligo and their relatives . [22] Vitiligo pathogenesis involves innate immune responses triggered by damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) released by damaged melanocytes, causing downstream adaptive immune activation that drives melanocyte destruction by autoreactive cytotoxic T lymphocytes . [23] Viti...