Vitamin D and vitiligo
According to the research I have done, it’s safe to say that Vitamin D plays a large role in vitiligo. This morning I came across a very interesting article in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology from July, 2008. Have a read and tell me what you think 
Vitiligo: nonsurgical treatment options and the evidence behind their use
Topical Vitamin D3 Analogs
Topical treatment with vitamin D3 analogs, specifically calciprotriol and tacalcitol, gained consideration as possible treatments for vitiligo following reports of hyperpigmentation in psoriasis patients. (48) The exact mechanism by which vitamin D may be a useful treatment for vitiligo is unclear, but there are numerous possibilities. One possible aspect of vitamin D’s utility is believed to be through modulation of the immune system. This is based on the fact that immune cells, such as T cells, B cells, and macrophages, express vitamin D receptors. In addition, animal models of autoimmune disease have been shown to respond to vitamin D supplementation. Vitamin D suppresses T-cell activation and the expression of cytokines such as TNF-[alpha] and IFN-[gamma]. Vitamin D’s immune modulation has already proven to be useful in the treatment of psoriasis. Furthermore, keratinocytes, melanocytes, and fibroblasts also express vitamin D receptors, and vitamin D has been associated with the maturation and differentiation of melanocytes. (5) There has even been found a polymorphism of the vitamin D receptor gene, APAI, that was shown to be associated with vitiligo in a small inbred Romanian community. (49)
The efficacy of topical vitamin D3 may also be due to its antioxidant properties, helping melanocytes respond to increased levels of reactive oxygen species found in keratinocytes and melanocytes from vitiligo lesions. Another mechanism may be through vitamin D’s ability to regulate calcium homeostasis. Oxidative stress from hydrogen peroxide has been shown to disrupt calcium homeostasis in vitiligo epidermis, and some believe that vitamin D may have the capacity to restore it. (5), (50)
Investigations of the use of calciprotriol as a monotherapy have generally showed poor results. In 1 study, however, the combination of calciprotriol with corticosteroids indicated that it may hold promise. This study treated 12 patients with combination topical steroids and calciprotriol, and 83% responded to therapy with an average repigmentation of 95% of body surface area. Interestingly, 4 of the patients who responded had previously failed steroid monotherapy. (51) There have also been positive results in studies combining it with phototherapy. A placebo-controlled, double-blind study of 35 patients concluded that calciprotriol combined with PUVA resulted in significantly higher percentages of repigmentation. Sixty-three percent of the lesions treated with PUVA and calciprotriol achieved complete repigmentation as compared to only 15% when PUVA was used with a placebo. (52)
Unfortunately, investigations of calciprotriol combined with NBUVB have had conflicting results. Some studies have found that calciprotriol potentiates the effects of NBUVB treatment, such as a recent prospective left, right comparison study of 28 patients by Goktas et al. (53) However, a more recent randomized comparative study of 40 patients concluded that topical calciprotriol did not significantly enhance the results of NBUVB. (54) In addition, Goldinger et al concluded in a single-blinded, right/left comparison that topical calciprotriol did not enhance the activity of treatment with a 308-nm excimer laser. (48) Adding to the confusion, other studies indicate that the related vitamin D analog tacalcitol has synergistic effects with both NBUVB and the 308-nm excimer laser. (55), (56) Despite some negative results, the use of vitamin D analogs is still being pursued. This is evidenced by a recent case report which described a pediatric patient who had failed steroid treatment, but was successfully treated with tacalcitol and 30 minutes of daily sunlight exposure. (57)
citation: findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PDG/is_7_7/ai_n27970036/pg_7/?tag=content;col1
The Vitamin D and vitiligo by Nathalie Pelletier, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Checking that you are not Vitamin D3 deficient is relatively cheap and easy. Grassroots health $40 25(OH)D postal test Just 2 spots of blood on a test card, Lancet provided, return the card and in a couple of weeks they email you a link to the result.
If you explore that Grassroots site you will find a series of videos from the world’s leading Vitamin D scientists. Diabetes, Cancer, Heart Disease are just a few of the subjects covered in relation to low vitamin D status.
The problem is just about every cell in the body uses D3. When our DNA evolved we lived naked outdoors. It was the ability to store D3 when we in surplus that enabled the paler skinned individuals to survive in northern latitudes, but nowadays most people never reach the point 125nmol/l 50ng where the stores of D3 build up.
In order for the immune function to work at Vmax the system requires equal amounts of stored D3{/a> to match circulating 25(OH)D. So anyone with a 25(OH)D below 50ng 125nmol/l is less capable of resisting chronic disease.
Thank you for this sharing. Vit.D can be useful for vitiligo but I don’t understand why they just studied topical form of vt. D. I did repigmented many time around %80-85 and got always back much more when I cut my regimes. So this is the biggest problem with vitiligo as because it is a complex situation more than a skin condition. If the system problem just compressed but not recovered, it will come back in 3-4 months or in a year. Repigmentation is not only problem, the main problem is that we commonly have digestive system disfunction, commonly we have some tyroid dysfunctions associated with the other glandular dysfunctions. My vitiligo comes from my poly glandular dysfunction. Low energy levels, very low vit. levels (so why not oral form instead of cream from of vit.D),very low seratonin and sex hormones, but high level of chortizon (I got a depo chortizon shot but it caused my viti spread badly). About chortizons if any of you related health business should know what devastating situation come from. I have never seen any disease could get over with chortizons. It does cause the problems even bigger in time, in asthma, in diabet, psoriasis and any of disease. I was a emergency nurse for 5 year, then representative for a drug company, than sales manager, than director of advertising and marketing, for 23 years I am in health business (including nurse school), I have never seen any one get relief with chortizon for a long, it does always comes back even more stubborn. I had it, many of us had it. This is sorry that not much can be done so they still trying chortizons for vitiligo again even they all know what I know. One last thing I wanna say to all, VITILIGO IS A SYSTEM DISORDER NOT A SKIN DISORDER, SYSTEM DISORDER RESULTS AS A SKIN SITUATION CALLED VITILIGO. IT IS COMMONLY FOUND THAT VITILIGO PATIENTS HAS GLANDULAR SYSTEM DYSFUNCTIONS THIS CAN CAUSE IMMUN SYSTEM DAMAGES OR DYSFUNCTIONS, SO VIT. D CAN HELP BETTER IF WE TAKE IT ORALLY OR BY ENJECTABLE FORMS BETTER THAN TOPICAL APPLICATIONS, CHORTIZONS CAN HELP AT THE BEGINNING BUT WILL BRING (in a month or so) MORE VITI DEPENDS ON MY EXPERIENCE, I AM WRITING BIG JUST I GOT TIRED OF HEARING THE SIMILAR WEAK APPROACHES TO THIS COMPLEX SITUATION..I should add something more as PUVA is the best artificial light treatment I had combined with psorolen pills, the other thing is natural sun also work much greater then narrow B depends on my experiences. Anyway last summer I used psorolen pills and natural sun light again, in 2-3 months got %85 coverage, I has to quit my regime and they came all back in 2-3 months even bigger. This is my 4th times that I got success but doesn’t last long..Good luck and I hope there will be something found soon that I can believe would work after all..
I’m in my 40s and have been working different approaches to treating vitiligo and alopicia for years. I’ve tried Oral vitamin D. It often made my stomach upset. I recently started topical D3. The first thing I noticed was that my skin began to feel softer and smoother, and I have properly pigmented hair growing in places where I had not seen growth in some time.
I did not have either of these responses from oral vitamin D at 4x the potency.
I don’t know why, and I can’t yet draw any conclusions, but thought it might help.
I sincerely hope that an effective cure can be learned soon for all vitiligo patients. Being a female, wearing a bathing suit in the summer or maybe a halter dress for example is very embarrassing and not to mention depressing. While the studies are still be conducted, does ANYONE, recommend or approve of permanent make up for the skin?
Vitamin D and vitiligo…
Topical treatment with vitamin D3 analogs, specifically calciprotriol and tacalcitol, gained consideration as possible treatments for vitiligo following reports of hyperpigmentation in psoriasis patients. (48) The exact mechanism by which vitamin D may…
This finding does not make sense. I have vitiligo and Vitamin D deficient (I am currently taking supplements) but the reason why I am vitamin D deficient is because I avoid the sun like a vampire, and the reason for that is because the sun tends to be the number 1 cause for my vitiligo to appear. So get vitamin D by standing in sunlight and I risk being disfigured? I don’t think so.
Leave your response!
RSS Feeds
Translator
New links
Interact and Connect
A Note from the Universe
Tag Cloud
Recent Comments
Important stuff
This site is green
Most Commented
Friend Footprints
friends also visited…
Archives