AbstractBackground: Vitiligo is a common acquired hypopigmentation disorder of the skin. Oxidative stress plays a key role in its pathogenesis by damaging melanocytes. Vitamins A and E known antioxidants?? may be involved, but studies on their levels in vitiligo patients show conflicting results. So, the aim of this work was to evaluate the serum levels of vitamin E and vitamin A in childhood vitiligo to determine their possible roles in disease pathogenesis.
Methods: This case control study was carried out on 40 individuals: 20 patients aged less than 18 years old, both sexes, with non-segmental Vitiligo who didn’t receive any kind of treatment of vitiligo for at least 3 months before the study and 20 healthy individuals with matching age and sex.
Results: There was a negative correlation between the patients' ages and their serum levels of vitamin E and A, as well as a non-significant correlation between the Vitiligo Disease Activity Index (VIDA score) and serum levels of vitamin E and A and the Vitiligo Area Scoring Index (VASI score).
Conclusions: Serum levels of vitamin A and vitamin E did not significantly differ between children with vitiligo and healthy controls, indicating that these vitamins may play a small part in the pathophysiology of the condition in children. Age and vitamin levels were found to be negatively correlated, which may be because of variations in metabolism and oxidative stress. Higher vitamin levels were observed in patients with less severe vitiligo, albeit these differences were not statistically significant. This suggests that antioxidants may have a part in lessening the severity of the condition.
