IntroductionVitiligo is a common acquired pigmentary skin disorder. Vitamin D is responsible for skin pigmentation, increases tyrosinase activity and melanogenesis, and exhibits immunoregulatory functions. Low levels of vitamin D are associated with many autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus, diabetes mellitus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and alopecia areata. Few reports have evaluated serum vitamin D levels in vitiligo patients, and their results are conflicting.AimTo evaluate serum vitamin D levels of vitiligo patients and compare the results with controls.Material and methodsIn total, 50 vitiligo patients and 47 controls were enrolled in the study. Vitamin D levels were measured from blood samples. Group comparisons were performed using appropriate statistical methods.ResultsThe patients had lower serum vitamin D levels than the controls, but this difference was not significant (p = 0.570).ConclusionsIt remains unknown whether vitamin D deficiency causes vitiligo. Larger controlled studies are required to prove whether low circulating vitamin D is a causative factor in vitiligo.

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Background. Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, relapsing and debilitating inflammatory disease associated with profound morbidity. Aim. In this multicentre study, we investigated the demographic and clinical features of HS, and determined risk factors of disease severity. Methods. In total, 1221 patients diagnosed with HS from 29 centres were enrolled, and the medical records of each patient were reviewed. Results. The mean age of disease onset was 26.2 AE 10.4 years, and almost 70% (n = 849) of patients were current or former smokers. Mean disease duration was 8.9 AE 8.4 years with a delay in diagnosis of 5.8 AE 3.91 years. Just over a fifth (21%; n = 256) of patients had a family history of HS. The axillary, genital and neck

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Objectives: Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease, and its pathogenesis involves changes in cytokine levels in the affected patients. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a), interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-17 from pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-37 in a recently detected anti-inflammatory activity. The aim of our study was to determine serum TNF-a, IL-6, IL-17, IL-37 levels in patients with vitiligo to understand their possible roles in the disease etiology and to compare the results with the healthy controls. Methods: The study included 48 generalized vitiligo patients who were diagnosed with vitiligo, had an increase in the lesions within the last 3 months, and did not receive any systemic or topical treatment during this period; furthermore, 18 healthy controls were included. Results: Patient group: n ¼ 48, mean age ¼ 30.48 ± 9.86 years; control group: n ¼ 18, mean age ¼ 28.27 ± 9.66 years. Individuals in the patient group had significantly higher serum levels of IL-37(t ¼ 3.90, p < .001), IL-6 (t ¼ 3.39, p < .05), IL-17 (t ¼ 2.08, p < .05), and TNF-a (t ¼ 4.69 p < .001) than in the control group. Conclusion:The high levels of (pro-anti) inflammatory cytokines in vitiligo patients draw attention to the importance of cytokines in the pathogenesis of the disease.