Effects of CO2 fractional laser therapy on peripheral blood cytokines in patients with vitiligo.

Abstract

Vitiligo is a disease pathologically characterized by specific damage to melanocytes. The aim of this study was to explore the mechanism underlying CO2 fractional laser treatment of vitiligo by detecting the levels of Th1 cytokines (IL-2 and IFN-γ), Th2 cytokines (IL-4 and IL-10), and Th17 cytokines (IL-17 and IL-23) in peripheral blood. Twenty five vitiligo patients were enrolled in this study and were treated with a CO2 fractional laser four to eight times. The cytokines of 25 vitiligo patients and 20 healthy volunteers were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. After CO2 fractional laser therapy, six cases were cured, and the apparent efficiency was 72.0% (18/25), while the efficiency was 92.0% (23/25). Before CO2 fractional laser therapy, IL-2 and IFN-γ levels in vitiligo patients were higher than those in the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant (p > .05). IL-4, IL-10, IL-17, and IL-23 levels were also higher in vitiligo patients than those in the control group (p < .05). After treatment, IL-2 and IFN-γ levels in vitiligo patients were lower than before treatment, but the difference was not statistically significant (p > .05), while IL-4, IL-10, IL-17, and IL-23 levels were significantly lower compared with before treatment (p < .05). The results show that CO2 fractional laser treatment has a good curative effect in the treatment of vitiligo.