Hypothesis: Zinc can be effective in treatment of vitiligo

Abstract

Vitiligo is a common depigmenting skin disorder (prevalence 0.1-2%), still represents a cause of stigmatization and quality of life impairment in a large population. Several theories on vitiligo etiopathogenesis have been suggested including in trauma, stress, and autoimmune and genetic predisposition, accumulation of toxic compounds, altered cellular environment, imbalance in the oxidant-antioxidant system, impaired melanocyte migration and/or proliferation, infection, and psychological factors. Zinc, as a trace element, has many vital functions in human. It is antiapoptotic factor and needed as a cofactor for antioxidant defense system. It plays an important role in the process of melanogenesis. It may be effective in prevention and treatment of vitiligo via some mechanism. Herein, we suggested some probable protective mechanism for zinc in association with vitiligo.

The Biomedical Role of Zinc in the Functioning of the Human Organism

“…The effectiveness of zinc treatment therapy of many skin diseases, including seborrheic dermatitis, dandruff, psoriasis, androgenic alopecia or also chronic ulcerations and viral verruca has been confirmed [17].…”

“…The most important is cellular respiration, cellular usage of oxygen, DNA and RNA replication, maintaining the integrity of the cell membrane, and also intercepting free radicals [17].…”

An overview of zinc and its importance in dermatology-Part II: The association of zinc with some dermatologic disorders

“…The efficacy of oral Zn supplementation has been reported in the treatment of AV [1,23,[30][31][32]. Studies have shown that oral Zn supplementation can reduce the severity of mild and moderate inflammatory AV when either administered alone or in combination with other acne treatments [30,33,34].…”

“…The efficacy of Zn sulphate has been described in CL [1,23,35,68,73,74]. A comparative clinical trial conducted by Sharquie et al compared the intralesional treatments of acute leishmaniasis with 2% Zn sulphate, 7% sodium chloride and sodium stibogluconate.…”

Role of Corticosteroids in Treatment of Vitiligo

“…For the first time, as a hypothesis, Bagherani and colleagues suggested that there might be association between this glycoprotein and vitiligo, which should be confirmed (Bagherani, 2011(Bagherani, , 2012aBagherani et al, 2011;Yaghoobi et al, 2011a).…”