Analysis of the expression profile of CRH-POMC system genes in vitiligo skin biopsies.

摘要

Vitiligo is a disorder characterised by depigmented patches in skin. In the involved vitiligo skin melanocytes are partially or completely lost, and no melanin is synthesized. The cause of destruction of epidermal melanocytes is complex and not fully understood - it may occur due to the factors from inside and/or outside the cell and many potential systems could be involved Neuropeptides, mainly produced by neurons, may be synthe-sised locally in skin where participating in regulating melanogen-esis and melanin transport to surrounding keratinocytes. There are few studies about neuropeptides and vitiligo pathogenesis - we demonstrated that proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and its receptors MC1R and MC4R mRNA expression levels have significantly decreased in vitiligo patients' involved skin and MC1R and MC4R levels increased in uninvolved vitiligo skin, compared to healthy controls [2].