Anti-Vitiligo™Oil is a herbal remedy for re-pigmentation in Vitiligo. It is the most effective herbal remedy for this purpose with a reorder rate of above 53%. The remedy has helped thousands of people with varying racial and ethnic backgrounds in attaining their normal complexion.

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The researchers reviewed 57 pediatric vitiligo patients who had different types of vitiligo (generalized, 58%; segmental, 37%; acrofacial, 5%; age range, 4-16 years; 44% white, 28% Latino, 16% black, 6% East Indian, 3% Asian, and 3% Middle Eastern) and 43 of them had received steroids and phototherapy in the past with unsatisfactory response.

All of these patients received Tacrolimus ointment for at least three months (0.03% concentration, 26 patients; 0.1%, 31 patients) and their response was evaluated by physicians. Moderated to excellent response rate was noted, the head and neck responded in 89% of the patients, and the trunk and extremities in 63% of patients. Eyelids had responded best with near 100% success. The response rates varied by seasons, it was 100% in summers, 80% in the fall and 61% in winter.

Although the study was retrospective and unblinded, it certainly shows that tacrolimus ointment is valuable for childhood vitiligo, particularly on the head and neck. It may be of note that that the safety of tacrolimus has already been shown in other studies.

The researchers studied 1,673 residents of a geographically isolated inbred community in the mountains of northern Romania, there they identified patients with Vitiligo and collected information on demographic data, genealogies, occurrence of other diseases and family structure.

During the research they found 51 people with Vitiligo which makes 2.9 percent incidence in the community. The authors say that “The 2.9 percent frequency of Vitiligo in the study community is 19.3 times its 0.15 percent frequency in the five surrounding villages, 7.5 times that among whites on the island of Bornholm, 5.7 times that among individuals in Calcutta, India and 22.5 times that among Han Chinese in Shaanxi Province, China, the only other populations for which empirically determined prevalence estimates have been published”. The authors depose that the incidence of some other autoimmune disorders like thyroid disease, adult-onset type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis was also higher in this community.

The researchers concluded that “while this variant is of particular importance in this isolated special population, it likely is also involved in disease susceptibility in the broader white population and, thus, is of broader importance”.

An increasing interest in PABA (4-aminobenzoic acid) in the recent days falls in the same category. There are a lot of commercial suppliers who are found claiming benefits of PABA.

A research study conducted in 1942^[1] claimed success in treating vitiligo oral use of PABA. The study, however, lacked control groups so the results do not carry any scientific significance. Ironically another study in 1983^[2] revealed that a high level dosage of vitiligo can cause vitiligo.

PABA is also surrounded by safety issues which range from hyper sensitivity to its topical use to extensive liver damage, skin rash and loss of appetite. It has also been found to interfere with the certain medications, including sulfa antibiotics. The safety in children, pregnant or nursing women and individuals with liver and kidney disease has not been determined.

1. ref: Sieve BF. The clinical effects of a new B complex factor, para-aminobenzoic acid, on pigmentation and fertility. South Med Surg. 1942;104:135–139

2. ref: Hughes CG. Oral PABA and vitiligo [letter]. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1983;9:770

Our hair cells already produce a little bit of hydrogen peroxide but as a person grows older the production of hydrogen peroxide increases and starts bleaching the hair from within, this turn our hair gray and then white.

The researchers made this discovery by analyzing the cell cultures of human hair follicles. They discovered that the development of hydrogen peroxide was caused by a reduction of an enzyme that breaks down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen (catalase). Further they found that the hair follicles could not restore the damage caused by the hydrogen peroxide because of low levels of enzymes that generally serve this function (MSR A and B). Further complicating matters, the high levels of hydrogen peroxide and low levels of MSR A and B, interrupts the development of an enzyme (tyrosinase) that leads to the production of melanin in hair follicles.

The researchers suspect that a similar breakdown in the skin could be the root cause of vitiligo.



The researchers took 0.1 mm epidermal sheet grafts from the buttocks obtained with a Zimmer air dermatome and secured these grafts to the superficially dermabraded, depigmented skin in 19 patients with vitiligo and one boy with piebaldism. The sheets of epidermis secured to the wound bed with silicone netting and covered with saline-soaked gauze for one week. The patients were later encouraged to expose this grafted skin to sunlight. 64% of the sites so grafted attained 95 – 100% repigmentation in 4 – 8 months. 18 % achieved 50-70% repigmentation while another 18% had less than 20% or less repigmentation. It was further noted that people with stable lesions had more complete repigmentation.

The treatment started with a sub-erythemal dose of 15 mJ per cm² and then subsequent doses were progressively increased depending on the extent of the erythema in the previous session. Seven people completed the full 12 week treatment, while there were few who received at least 6 weeks of treatment. Laser induced start of repigmentation correlated with the total number of treatment sessions received but not with frequency: At 3 weeks, 15% of the lesions in the thrice weekly group showed repigmentation, compared with no lesions treated once or twice weekly (they also had the highest incidence of side effects).

It was however seen that at 12 weeks, the percentage of repigmented lesions was close in the three groups (46%, 62%, and 69% in lesions treated once, twice, and three times weekly). This laser induced pigmentation persisted in most lesions during the 12 month follow-up period.

Highest frequency of side effects occurred most often in the thrice weekly group. These side effects included burning and stinging, moderate-to-severe erythema, edema, and circumcised blisters, requiring the next dose to be reduced or skipped.

It may be noted that Tacrolimus ointment and Excimer laser both help in repigmenting the Vitiligo affected skin, but both of these vitiligo treatments achieve only a modest degree of success. The Investigators examined the results of the 308-nm excimer laser therapy in combination with tacrolimus ointment on 14 vitiligo patients aged between twelve and sixty three years. A total of 43 lesions were treated in these patients, one side of the body was treated with a combination of tacrolimus ointment and excimer laser while the other side of the body was treated either with excimer laser or tacrolimus ointment twice daily. It was a comparative prospective randomized intra-individual study in which one side of the body was used as the control. The results were better than what was being expected. All combined therapy patches showed at least some degree of re-pigmentation and 70% of these had extensive repigmentation (more than 75%). Laser therapy alone showed at least partial pigmentation in 85% patches, but only a meager 20% had extensive repigmentation. Even more significant was the finding that 60 % of the most difficult (UV-resistant) areas, such as the fingers and bony prominences also responded to this combination therapy. The patient satisfaction rate was also far better in the combined therapy group. Independent reviews have regarded these findings to be promising.

The investigators transplanted a suspension of autologous melanocytes and keratinocytes into some of the lesions of 49 cases of segmental and 15 cases of focal Vitiligo. 84% of the segmental Vitiligo patients and 73% of the focal Vitiligo patients achieved greater than 95 % repigmentation.

It may be noted that the lesions of people with segmental and focal Vitiligo are limited in size and they often have an unsatisfactory response to UV therapy.
The investigators followed these cases for 5 years and there was no loss of repigmentation during this period.

It is very significant that the technique and process of this surgical approach is much simpler than transplant of the cultured melanocytes. It is however complicated enough to be done outside a major medical center with a sophisticated lab capable of isolating the cell suspension.

Percentage of area showing improvement was slightly more than 20% in the PUVA-treated patients and more than 50% in the narrowband-treated group. Color of the re-pigmented skin also matched excellently the color of uninvolved skin in all narrow band UVB group than the PUVA treated group. The authors have concluded that Narrow band UVB is a safer and more effective method of treatment than PUVA.