Liver X Receptor Polymorphism in Genetic Susceptibility to Vitiligo

Abstract

Vitiligo is an acquired, idiopathic skin depigmentation disorder affecting approximately 1% of the world population characterized by milky white patches on the skin. It is caused by destruction of pigment-forming cells known as melanocytes at the leisional site. Melanocytes are the cell solely responsible for the melanin production which imparts color to the skin. Loss of melanocyte resulting in devoid of melanin and thus, milky white patches appear at the leision site. The exact cause of the loss of melanocyte is not known. But various theories based on autoimmunity, oxidative stress, neural factors, genetic defects explain the loss of melanocyte that has been suggested to be the key event in the vitiligo pathogenesis. Consequences of vitiligo are not life threatening but it can have profound psychological consequences which may range from mild embarrassment to a severe loss of self-confidence and social anxiety. Basically, vitiligo affects the quality of patient’s life. Various research groups are focusing their efforts to elucidate the regulation and the mechanism of skin pigmentation with a goal of developing a new treatment for vitiligo. Various biological and chemical agents have been developed that target the vitiligo susceptibility marker for therapeutic intervention, but most of them have adverse effects in the skin and are not effective in many cases. Moreover, similar treatment cannot be given to all patients because of different clinical types of vitiligo. Furthermore, there are various reports that demonstrated varying treatment outcomes to a treatment in different patients. Therefore, there is a need to develop new therapeutic interventions as well as to identify new markers that could help to monitor and predict treatment outcome of vitiligo therapy.