Stress Response Pathways in Vitiligo

Identifying a role for NF-κB signaling in vitiligo may improve therapies for this disfiguring disorder. Current treatments vary in effectiveness and may not always be long lasting cases. The NF-κB pathway and IL-6 itself are the target of several FDA approved drugs, thus opening new therapeutic avenues.

Inclusion criteria

• To be eligible for participation, subjects must meet all of the following criteria:
• Must have a clinical exam consistent with and diagnosis of non-segmental vitiligo
• Must be normally pigmented
• No clinical presentation of vitiligo

Exclusion criteria

• Outside of the specified age range
• No clinical diagnosis of vitiligo
• Use of systemic therapies, including but not limited to methotrexate, etretinate, or cyclosporine, calcineurin inhibitors and/ or vitamin D analogs within 4 weeks of enrollment
• Use of topical steroids or topical immunodilators at biopsy site within 4 weeks of enrollment
• History of keloids or hypertrophic scars
• Patients with pacemakers or defibrillators or heart valves
• Patients on Plavix, Warfarin or similar anticoagulation medicine
• Pregnant females
• Lactating women
• Allergies or sensitivity to lidocaine or epinephrine
• Outside of the specified age range
• Abnormally pigmented at potential biopsy sites (non-vitiligo)
• Clinical presentation of vitiligo
• Use of systemic therapies, including but not limited to methotrexate, etretinate, or cyclosporine, calcineuron inhibitors and/ or vitamin D analogs within 4 weeks of enrollment
• Use of topical steroids or topical immunodilators at biopsy site within 4 weeks of enrollment
• History of keloids or hypertrophic scars