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Topical prostaglandin analog (PGE 2 ) in vitiligo – a preliminary study
Author(s) -
Parsad Davinder,
Pandhi Roma,
Dogra Sunil,
Kumar Bhushan
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
international journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1365-4632
pISSN - 0011-9059
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-4362.2002.01612.x
Subject(s) - vitiligo , medicine , dermatology , prostaglandin e2 , melanocyte , prostaglandin , pigmentation disorder , prostaglandin analogue , melanoma , cancer research
Background Several therapeutic options are available for the treatment of vitiligo, but none is uniformly effective. Prostaglandin has been shown to play a role in melanocyte proliferation and melanogenesis. Topical application of prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2 ) over mice skin has been shown to increase melanocyte density. Aim To evaluate the role of topical PGE 2 in the treatment of vitiligo. Methods We enrolled 27 patients with limited vitiligo lesions in this study. Patients were instructed to apply a translucent gel containing 0.5 mg/3 g (166.6 µg/g) PGE 2 to depigmented skin. Results Twenty‐four patients were evaluated at the end of 6 months, as three patients withdrew for reasons unrelated to the study. At the end of treatment, 15 patients showed marked to complete repigmentation and three patients showed moderate repigmentation. The remaining six patients showed none to minimal repigmentation. Conclusions Marginal repigmentation with hyperpigmented borders was seen in the majority of lesions. Our results are encouraging and offer a new and potentially efficacious treatment for this pigmentation disorder.