There is now new hope for an effective treatment for the skin disorder vitiligo.
Vitiligo is an autoimmune disorder defined by the destruction of melanocytes, the pigment cells responsible for giving skin its colour, which causes the progressive depigmentation of the skin associated with the disease. The current treatment options remain ineffective and provide little efficacy. The emergence of a new modified protein however, has given hope to the 1 in 200 people worldwide affected by the condition.
Researchers at the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine have developed a modified protein which reverses the skin disorder in mice, with similar results in human skin tissue samples.
The protein HSP70i (inducible heat shock protein 70) has been previously shown to influence the autoimmune response in vitiligo. The protein, made of a number of amino acids, was altered by genetically modifying the amino acids which in turn replaces normal HSP70i and thereby reversing the autoimmune response. When applied to mice, the fur which was affected by vitiligo turned back to its normal colour. Similar effects were observed in human skin samples.
As none of the current treatment options, which include steroid creams and skin grafts are successful in preventing vitiligo, this breakthrough research is a ray of hope for patients. A patent for the protein has been applied for, while researchers hope to enter the treatment option into human clinical trials.
