Narrow-Band Ultraviolet B Phototherapy For Repigmentation Of Vitiligo

The aim of this work was to compare the clinical efficacy of narrow-band UVB monotherapy versus NB-UVB plus topical calcipotriol therapy in Egyptian patients with generalized vitiligo, and to study the possible role of the TNF-α cytokine in the depigmentation process of the disease. This study has been conducted on twenty patients with generalized symmetric vitiligo selected from the outpatient clinic of the Dermatology and Venereology Department, Zagazig University Hospitals . They were fourteen females and six males with their ages ranging between 12 and 52 years with a mean of 25.3 ±10.35 years. All patients were recruited into a right/ left comparative study between combined therapy of NB-UVB plus calcipotriol and NB- UVB monotherapy. This study also demonstrated a significant increase of TNF-α in vitiligo lesions, compared with perilesional and healthy skin, thus suggesting a possible involvement of epidermal cytokines in the pathogenesis of vitiligo .There may be a correlation between the increase in TNF-α before and after NB-UVB phototherapy and needs quantitative measurement to detect to which level there is inhibition of pigmentation and another for repigmentation.