Forum

Hi All,

It took me 4 years to understand how and why NSV appears on someone's skin.  However, it seems that I learned more in the last 6 months than the other 3 years and a half.  I will try to put all this fragmented opinion together...

This post is related only to Non-Segmental Vitiligo, i.e., symmetrical and generalized one.

1- Vitiligo is a genetic predisposition to have dysfunctional melanocytes. It has nothing to do with dysfunctional  immune system.

2- A genetic predisposed person may live a whole life without triggering his/her vitiligo.

3- Once vitiligo is triggered,  it becomes hard to cure, but not impossible.  That happens because melanocytes learn how to work improperly, so that they can't  forget it easily (kind of mimetism, mimicry).

4-The only objective cause that triggers NSV is Oxidative Stress (excess of free radicals).  

It's unbelievable !  Take a breath...  There are rare exceptions like (hypothyrodism, adrenal fatigue, liver, etc.).

5- Oxidative Stress is a complex concept.  It can be reached by many ways.  The major  ones are: food allergy,  physical traumas and dysbiosis (parasites, candida, h-pylori, leak gut).  See others below:

Oxidative stress can be caused by candida, parasites, h-pylori, food allergy, toxic chemical compounds and pollutants in your body, hydrogenated fats, all kinds of pollution , including air, water, and food, oils that have been heated to very high temperatures, cigarette smoke, directly inhaled or secondhand, dehydration, too much sugar, too much animal protein in your diet, geophysical stress like living near power lines or waste dumps, viral infections, preservatives in your food, drugs (over the counter and prescription), artificial food colorings and flavorings, plastics and phthalates, chemical cleaning supplies, chlorinated water that you drink, shower in or swim in, alcohol, pesticides in your food, radiation exposure, psychological and emotional stress, endurance exercise and  * incredibly physical traumas * (muscle damaging anaerobic training, trauma or injury to muscle, bone and skin). 

6-Oxidative stress causes defect in the membrane integrity, also causes lipid peroxidation, generates hydrogen peroxide and mutates mitochondrial cells.  All this weaken cell adhesion. 

7- So vitiligo starts...  It starts because people that are pre-disposed to have dysfunctional melanocytes,  now have mutated melanocytes.  Their cell adhesion is also compromised.  Even worse,  melanocytes start producing improperly a protein called MIA that destroys totally its adhesion.

As a matter of fact, oxidative stress does the primary damage in the cell adhesion, so that MIA gets a perfect environment to do it's job, which is "Detaching cells".  Detaching melanocytes that exfoliate in the epidermis silently.  That's what MIA is produced for...

Brief description about MIA:

It's a protein that is supposed to be produced by malignant melanoma (malignancy of melanocyte). It is known to play a key role in melanoma development, progression and tumor cell invasion. After its secretion, which is restricted to the rear pole of migrating cells, MIA protein directly interacts with cell adhesion receptors and extracellular matrix molecules. By this mechanism, MIA protein actively facilitates focal cell detachment from surrounding structures at the cell rear and strongly promotes tumor cell invasion and formation of metastases. 

8-While MIA is in the epidermis, vitiligo will appear and stay. It's a matter of time.It can spread or not.  The patch may last 10 years, in a stable size, so that MIA will be there.  If the patch is stable, it means that while the skin produces "x" melanocytes,  MIA detaches pretty much the same amount of melanocytes.  If it's spreading,  means that MIA is detaching more than the skin's ability to produce new melanocites.  It's an endless battle.

9- Reducing Oxidative Stress (specially phisical traumas, food allergy and dysbiosis) will definitely help to win the battles or, at least, to tie them.

10-Unfortunately, to win the war, we have to remove MIA from the white patches.  This "magical" cream will be available in 1 or 2 years.  It will be a peptide able to neutralize MIA.

11- In the meantime,  some creams have some success in "fighting" against MIA (not neutralizing it).  They are: Elidel (best), Pseudocatalase and Protopic.  They help in a certain way to keep MIA confused.  Forget about Elidel's and Protopic's immune suppressor ability.  This feature doesn't help at all.  These creams  help vitiligo by chance.  They were probably invented in a trial / error approach.

12-UVB-NB is excelent.  Not because it stimulates melanocites, but because UVB-NB makes melanocite's adhesion (integrin a5b1) stronger.

13. That's just a thought.  See:  www.researchforvitiligo.com