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septimasexta ago

Vitiligo (loss of skin pigment) seems to be associated with certain transplants:

"The exact etiology of vitiligo is unknown; however, there is evidence to suggest that it is most likely due to lymphocyte-mediated destruction of melanocytes occurring by both humoral- and cell-mediated mechanisms. Naughton et al2 showed that antimelanocyte antibodies were present in vitiligo patients. Sera from patients with vitiligo were shown to react with melanocyte surface and cytoplasmic antigens.3, 4 Yao-Hua Song et al5 showed that tyrosinase, an enzyme important in melanin formation, is a principal auto antigen of autoimmune vitiligo. Wankowicz-Kalinsha et al6 found increased amounts of melanocyte-reactive cytotoxic T cells in the peripheral blood of patients with vitiligo and were able to show a correlation between perilesional T-cell infiltration and melanocyte loss in situ, suggesting the possible role of cellular immunity in the pathogenesis of the disease. It is clear that the cause of this skin disorder is multifactorial.

A review of the literature revealed that all of the cases reported of vitiligo after stem cell/bone marrow transplant or after donor lymphocyte infusion, occurred in patients who had developed GVHD. GVHD was mild, grade I in some cases and more severe, up to grade III in others. In allogeneic stem cell transplant the patient and donor are usually matched for the MHC Class I (A, B) and MHC Class II (DR) antigens. GVHD could, therefore, occur due to mismatch of minor histocompatibility antigens.7 The development of GVHD is a multistep process in which the recipient tissues are recognized as foreign by the donor immune system, leading to the activation and expansion of various effector populations ultimately leading to T-cell-mediated direct cytotoxic damage of target tissues.

In this patient, we hypothesize that GVHD was most likely the inciting factor leading to the production of melanocyte-specific cytotoxic T cells and the development of vitiligo several months later. This case is unusual in that vitiligo presented one and a half years after stem cell transplantation." https://www.nature.com/articles/1705137

realityisinsanity ago

Michael Jackson had vitiligo