Osteopontine Level in Vitiligo Patients

Background: Vitiligo is an acquired pigmentary disorder of unknown etiology that affects up to 1% of the general population of all skin types . It is a multifactorial disorder including genetic theory, auto-immune theory, neurogenic factors, intrinsic defect of melanocytes (self destructive theory), oxidative stress theory, reduced melanocyte survival theory, transepidermal melanocytorrhagy theory and convergence theory is also suggested. There are numerous medical and surgical treatments aiming repigmentation . Osteopontin( OPN ) is a multifunctional glycophosphoprotein secreted by many cell types, including osteoblasts, lymphocytes, macrophages, epithelial and vascular smooth muscle cells. It has been implicated in many physiological and pathological processes, such as cell-mediated immunity, inflammation, cell survival, tumor invasion and metastasis .OPN has multiple emerging roles in Th1-mediated diseases such as alopecia areata and vitiligo characterized by a prevalent of Th1 cytokine profile. Objective: to evaluate serum level of Osteopontin in vitiligo patients and to correlate it with disease severity using ELISA technique. Patients and method : This study included 15 patients suffering from vitiligo (Group A). In addition to, 15 apparently healthy individuals of matched age and sex serving as a control group (Group B). Results: Serum level of OPN was found to be higher in vitiligo patients than in healthy control group and serum OPN level showed significant positive correlation with duration Conclusion: the present study has showed higher serum OPN in vitiligo patients in comparison to controls, as well as correlation of serum OPN with disease severity .