Assessment of prostaglandin F2-alpha (PGF2α) in lesional and nonlesional skin of vitiligo patients

Background F2-isoprostane is one of the members of biologically active prostaglandins. It is considered a reliable marker of oxidative stress. This study aimed at investigating and studying the hypothesis of the possible role of prostaglandin F2-alpha (PGF2 alpha) in the pathogenesis of vitiligo and to know if there is a possibility of using it in therapy. Methods This case-control study involved 30 patients with nonsegmental vitiligo and 30 healthy sex- and age-matched controls over a period of 7 months. Skin biopsies were taken from lesional and nonlesional vitiliginous skin of patients and from normal skin of controls for measurement of PGF2 alpha in tissue by ELISA. Results The tissue levels of PGF2 alpha in vitiligo patients were significantly higher in both lesional and nonlesional skin than in healthy controls (P < 0.001). The tissue levels of PGF2 alpha in lesional skin were significantly higher than in nonlesional skin (P < 0.001). Conclusion Based on the fact that PGF2 alpha is a reliable biomarker of oxidative stress, in addition to our results that revealed higher tissue levels of PGF2 alpha in vitiliginous skin than in healthy skin, we can conclude that PGF2 alpha may be incriminated in the pathogenesis of vitiligo. This finding could help in the treatment of this disease by using anti-PGF2 alpha drugs.

Automated summary

This study investigated the potential role of PGF2 alpha in the pathogenesis of vitiligo and found that the tissue levels of PGF2 alpha were significantly higher in both lesional and nonlesional skin of vitiligo patients compared to healthy controls. The findings suggest that PGF2 alpha may be implicated in the development of vitiligo.