Impact of Combined Phototherapy and Melanocyte Transplantation on Indicators of Vitiligo Activity

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of phototherapy combined with melanocyte transplantation on the activity index of vitiligo. METHODS One hundred twenty patients with stable vitiligo were selected and divided into 2 groups: phototherapy group (n = 60) and phototherapy combined with melanocyte therapy group (n = 60). Patients’ vitiligo activity scores before and 6 months after treatment, patients’ skin pigmentation responses 6 months after treatment, and patients’ new Koebner cases 6 months after treatment were compared. The expression of tyrosinase and Melan-A in the skin samples was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS The effect of skin surface repigmentation in the observation group was better than that in the control group (p < .05). The expression of tyrosinase and Melan-A in the observation group was higher than that in the control group (p < .05), indicating that the combined treatment could enhance the function of melanocytes. After 6 months of treatment, the incidence of the Koebner phenomenon in the observation group was lower than that in the control group (p < .05). CONCLUSION The combination of phototherapy and melanocyte transplantation can obviously improve the activity index of vitiligo, slow down the spread of white spots, reduce the formation of new white spots, and reduce the occurrence of the Koebner phenomenon.