Determination of oxidative stress in vitiligo by measuring superoxide dismutase levels in vitiliginous skin

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Objective This study was conducted to determine the association between oxidative stress and vitiligo by measuring antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD) in vitiliginous skin. Background Vitiligo is an acquired depigmenting disease characterized by milky white patches of skin due to local destruction and loss of the epidermal melanocytes. Complex genetic, immunological, neural and self-destructive mechanisms interplay in its pathogenesis. According to autocytotoxic hypothesis, oxidative stress has been suggested to be the initial pathogenic event in melanocyte degeneration. Oxidative stress is defined as a disruption of the delicate balance between the formation of reactive oxygen species and the antioxidant defense system, The dismutation of superoxide (O2-) by SOD to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is generally considered to be the primary antioxidant defense of the body, because this enzyme prevents the further generation of free radicals. SOD exists in virtually every oxygen-respiring organism, and its major function is to catalyze dismutative reaction. Patients and methods We determined the activity of SOD in lesional skin only of 20 female patients with vitiligo. The ages of the patients ranged from 18 to 53 years. A total of 17 patients had nonsegmental vitiligo and three had segmental vitiligo, and 10 age-matched and gender-matched apparently healthy volunteers with no past, present or family history of vitiligo, served as a control group. Every case and control was subjected to skin biopsy, and SOD assay of the obtained biopsy was carried out by spectrophotometry. Results A significant difference was found between cases and controls with regard to tissue SOD (P = 0.01, Conclusion There was a significant association between oxidative stress and vitiligo.