Topical application of a melanotropin analogue to vulgar vitiligo dermo-epidermal minigrafts.

Human subjects with active vulgar vitiligo do not respond well to autologous dermo-epidermal minigrafting. Eighteen subjects were treated with the alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) synthetic analogue [Nle4, D-Phe7]-alpha-MSH. The hormone (50 microliters, 0.4 mM) was applied topically to 30-cm2 lesions in which 29-48 minigrafts had been made. The hormone did not improve the success of the minigrafting and no differences were observed in local or distant repigmentation in treated subjects as compared to the placebo group. Aliquots of 24-h urine concentrated by lyophilization irreversibly darkened toad skins, demonstrating the presence of the analogue. This is the first report of the transdermal delivery of a topically applied melanotropin in living human subjects.