A Rare Repigmentation Pattern in a Vitiligo Patient: A Clue to an Epidermal Stem-Cell Reservoir of Melanocytes?
March 2009
in “
Clinical and experimental dermatology
”
TLDR Repigmentation in vitiligo may come from melanocyte stem cells in the skin.
The document described a rare repigmentation pattern in a 66-year-old vitiligo patient, suggesting an alternative source of melanocytes within glabrous skin, apart from hair follicles. The patient, with a 25-year history of generalized vitiligo, underwent oral 8-methoxypsoralen combined with UVA therapy, resulting in repigmentation after 213 treatments. Histological analysis showed tyrosinase-positive melanocytes in the repigmenting lesions, supporting the hypothesis of a melanocyte stem-cell reservoir in the epidermis. This finding provided clinical evidence for the presence of melanocyte precursors/stem cells in vitiliginous lesions, contributing to ongoing debates in the field.
