Non-Psoralen Treatment of Vitiligo. Part II. Less Commonly Used and Experimental Therapies

The document from 1992 reviews alternative and experimental treatments for vitiligo, a condition causing loss of skin pigmentation. It covers a range of therapies including Melagenina, prostaglandin inhibitors, autologous minigrafting, bleaching agents like MBEHQ, and treatments with dopa, phenylalanine, and 5-fluorouracil combined with epidermal abrasion. The latter showed complete or almost complete repigmentation in 64% of 28 patients in a Japanese study, while other studies had mixed results. Additional therapies such as alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone injections and various drugs were mentioned with varying success rates and side effects. The document concludes that while some treatments like topical steroids and autologous minigrafting show potential, none have proven as effective as psoralens and UVA, and many should be considered experimental.