Revista de Dermatología y Enfermedades Dermatológicas

Assessment of Prolactin Levels in Vitiligo Patients and Healthy Controls and it’s Association With Severity of Disease

Abstract

Siamak Esmaeily Radvar, Zohreh Tehranchi, Masoud Partovikia, Armaghan Kazeminejad and Seyed Hadi Sadat Amini

Background: Vitiligo is a patchy depigmentation of skin with a prevalence of 1-2% globally, with three probable mechanisms among which immunologic affairs are most prominent. Higher blood concentrations of prolactin in autoimmune diseases like thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis and SLE have identified a vital role for the hormone in this regard. So we conducted the current study to evaluate serum levels of prolactin in cases of vitiligo comparing to healthy subjects to detect any relationship and responsibility of prolactin in this disease. Methods: Through a case-control design, vitiligo sufferers referring to two university centers in Tehran were recruited beside a sex- and age-matched control group. Peripheral blood serum prolactin levels were measured to compare cases and controls in order to find any relevant changes. Results: 110 subjects including 55 cases of vitiligo and 55 controls were evaluated but no relationship was found between serum prolactin levels and existence or severity of vitiligo. Conclusion: Since prolactin is also produced locally in the skin, it is supposed that local release of hormone cannot hit the threshold of serum identified levels of prolactin resulting in normal concentrations in vitiligo. This study advises bigger study and measurement of prolactin in skin patches to detect lower levels of prolactin in addition to serum.