Relationship between the serum TGF beta 1 level and anti organ-specific antibodies in vitiligo patients

Background: To our knowledge, there is a hypothesis regardingthe association of vitiligo with other autoimmune disorders.Organ-specific autoantibodies are found more frequently in theserum of vitiligo patients. Recent studies have demonstratedthe role of alterations in serum transforming growth factor-beta(TGF-beta) released from regulatory T cells in the pathogenesisof depigmentation observed in vitiligo. It has been shown that incomparison with patients without autoimmune diseases, serumTGF-beta levels increase in patients whose vitiligo is associatedwith autoimmune diseases. We hypothesized a relationshipbetween serum TGF-beta levels and organ-specific autoantibodiesthat could predict other autoimmune diseases in vitiligo patients.Method: Forty-five patients with a mean age of 35.96±13.34years who had stable vitiligo since 1 year ago and involvementof up to 30% body surface area were enrolled. Organ-specificautoantibodies (ANA, anti mitochondrial Ab, anti TPO (antithyroid microsomal Ab), anti parietal cell Ab, anti thyroglobulinAb) and serum TGF-beta level were evaluated.Result: Twenty-three patients (51.11%) had at least one positiveorgan-specific autoantibody. Anti TPO in 16 patients, antithyroglobulin Ab in 9 patients, anti parietal cell Ab and ANAeach in 5 patients, and anti mitochondrial Ab in 4 patients werepositive. Mean serum TGF-beta level was 105.82±30.33; there wasno significant difference in serum TGF-b level between patientswith and without positive organ-specific autoantibody (P=0.26).Conclusion: Although another study showed the relationshipbetween serum TGF-beta levels and autoimmune disordersin vitiligo patients, we did not find a significant difference inserum TGF-beta levels in these patients regarding the positivityof organ-specific antibodies. It may be due to the fact that ourpatients had autoantibodies without clinical autoimmune diseaseexcept vitiligo.