Role of autophagy in nonsegmental vitiligo Naguid and Rashed

Abstract

Background Vitiligo is a skin and less common hair disease characterized by decline in melanocyte function and depigmentation, with a prevalence of 0.5–1% in most populations. Autophagy is the degradation of components of the cytoplasm within lysosomes. This is distinct from endocytosis-mediated lysosomal degradation of extracellular and plasma membrane proteins. Aim The aim was to detect biochemical parameter light chain 3 (LC3) to monitor autophagy in vitiligo skin of patients as compared with normal control persons to evaluate the role of autophagy in the vitiligo pathogenesis. Materials and methods This case–control study included 60 patients with vitiligo and 60 age-matched and sex-matched healthy controls. Herein, 4 mm punch skin biopsy was taken from every patient (vitiligo lesion) and control and kept in lysis solution for the stability of the studied parameters and was kept frozen at −80°C till analysis of autophagy protein LC3 by qRT PCR. Results The level of LC3 in lesional skin of vitiligo was significantly lower as compared with normal control persons.