Serum Calprotectin Levels in Vitiligo Patients and Disease Relation

Abstract

Introduction: Vitiligo is characterized as melanocytes loss in skin and mucous membranes, the pathogenesis of which isn’t yet clarified. Calprotectin is a protein secreted from neutrophils, monocytes, and dendritic cells, which has an effect on cytokine receptor regulation and the production of reactive oxygen radicals. It has been the subject of research in various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, yet not investigated in vitiligo. Objective: The aim of our study was to investigate the role of calprotectin in the etiopathogenesis of vitiligo and its relationship with clinical subtypes and disease scores. Methods: 44 vitiligo patients with lack of autoimmune disease and 36 age and sex matched healthy controls were involved in the study. Serum calprotectin levels were measured by ELISA. The results were compared with the control group, and the relationship between patients' demographic characteristics, skin phototypes, disease type, disease scores (Vitiligo Area Scoring Index and Vitiligo Disease Activity Score), disease duration, and age at onset were evaluated. Results: The median serum calprotectin level was 454.08 pg/ml (41.19-873.41) in the patient group, and the median serum calprotectin level was 223.17 pg/ml (44.88-1044.43) in the control group. Serum calprotectin level was significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group (p=0.016). No correlation was found between serum calprotectin level and disease scores, disease duration, age, age of onset of disease (p˃0.05).

Keywords

• vitiligo
• calprotectin
• S100A8/A9 protein
• oxidative stress
• etiology