Abstract
BACKGROUND: Vitiligo is an acquired pigmentary disorder of the skin. Genetic factors, oxidative stress, autoimmunity, and neurochemical agents might be contributing factors for the development of the disease. AIMS: To evaluate the oxidative stress level and tyrosinase activity in vitiligo patients and to compare them with healthy volunteers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used Comet assay to evaluate DNA strand breaks in peripheral blood cells of active vitiligo patients. We then extracted total protein from lesional and nonlesional skin of ten selected patients. Tyrosinase activity was found to play a crucial role in melanogenesis. RESULTS: The basal level of systemic oxidative DNA strand breaks in leukocytes increased in vitiligo patients compared to healthy participants. We observed that tyrosinase activity in lesional skin was lower than in nonlesional skin. CONCLUSION: Our finding suggests that increased levels of oxidative stress might impact tyrosinase activity and eumelanin synthesis via anabolism pathway of melanin synthesis. In sum, we observed a negative correlation between levels of systemic oxidative stress and of tyrosinase activity.