Nagui Noha A, Mahmoud Sara B, Abdel Hay Rania M, Hassieb May M, Rashed Laila A
Dermatology Department, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
Clinical Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
Australas J Dermatol. 2017 May;58(2):e36-e39. doi: 10.1111/ajd.12408. Epub 2015 Oct 6.
Proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) are regulators of melanogenesis and pigmentation. Our objective was to estimate their levels, searching for a possible role of the melanocortin system in vitiligo. This study included 40 vitiligo patients and 40 controls. Skin biopsies were taken from lesional and non-lesional skin of patients and from the non-sun exposed skin of controls to detect the expression of POMC and MC1R using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Both factors were significantly lower in lesional than non-lesional skin and controls, while they were significantly higher in non-lesional skin than in controls. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between lesional levels of POMC and MC1R, as well as between non-lesional levels of POMC and MC1R in the patients. On the other hand, we found a statistically significant negative correlation between the lesional and non-lesional levels of POMC, as well as between the lesional and non-lesional levels of MC1R in the patients. As a conclusion, the melanocortin system could play a role in the pathogenesis of vitiligo or could be affected as the end result of the disease.
阿黑皮素原（POMC）和黑皮质素1受体（MC1R）是黑素生成和色素沉着的调节因子。我们的目的是评估它们的水平，探寻黑皮质素系统在白癜风中可能发挥的作用。本研究纳入了40例白癜风患者和40例对照。从患者的皮损和非皮损皮肤以及对照的非阳光暴露皮肤取皮肤活检组织，采用定量实时聚合酶链反应检测POMC和MC1R的表达。这两个因子在皮损中的水平均显著低于非皮损皮肤和对照，而在非皮损皮肤中的水平显著高于对照。患者皮损中POMC和MC1R的水平之间、非皮损中POMC和MC1R的水平之间均存在统计学显著的正相关。另一方面，我们发现患者皮损和非皮损中POMC的水平之间、皮损和非皮损中MC1R的水平之间均存在统计学显著的负相关。结论是，黑皮质素系统可能在白癜风的发病机制中起作用，或者可能作为疾病的最终结果而受到影响。
