Since vitiligo is an autoimmune disease, certain dietary patterns and supplements may be used to support the immune system in individuals with the characteristic loss of skin pigmentation. This article focuses specifically on supplements that have been shown in clinical trials to promote skin repigmentation.
In most cases supplementation was accompanied by the use of light therapy.
For thousand of years the treatment of “leukoderma” (vitiligo) involved the topical application or ingestion of seeds or plant extracts and the subsequent exposure to sunlight.
Khellin is an extract from the seeds of the plant khella found in the eastern Meditteranean area. Supplementation of Khellin has been repeatedly shown (Abdel-Fattah, A. et al., 1982, Orecchia, G. et al., 1998, de LEEUW, J. et al., 2003) to improve the repigmentation of the skin.
There have been cases though (Ortel, B. et al., 1988) that after 4-6 weeks of khellin supplementation the elevation of transaminases was observed and for these individuals had to discontinue the treatment.
In search for re-pigmentation solutions for vitiligo, a group of scientists in Amsterdam – NL (Cormane R et al., 1985), noted that patients with phenylketonuria (who among other symptoms have lighter than normal skin) when administrated tyrosine and were incubated with UV-light had normal melanin production. Cormane’s team initially tried the tyrosine & UV-A protocol in a pilot study of 5 without any success. Sequentially they tried phenylalanine (a precursor of tyrosine) seeing improvement in 95% of the subjects after 6 to 8 months. The theory put forward on why phenylalanine benefits vitiligo patches was that it stops antibodies and allows sun radiation to stimulate melanocytes from other areas to migrate to the damaged ones (Camacho, F. and Mazuecos, J., 1999).
50 mg/kg of body weight per day of phenylalanine was administered 1 hour prior to UV A irradiation (twice per week). Of the 19 participants:
i. 5 noted dense re-pigmentation in 6 to 8 months
ii. 13 saw sparse re-pigmentation in the same period
iii. and 1 had no re-pigmentation even after 8 months.
Since the 1980’s there has been no more research examining the benefits of phenylalanine for vitiligo. All 3 studies combining the administration of the amino acid & UVA exposure as well as the 1 that used just the amino acid reported positive outcomes (Szczurko, O. and Boon, H.S., 2008).
PABA is an ingredient often used in sunscreen lotions. One study showed PABA to support repigmentation (Sieve B F, 1942) but currently there is limited research to confirm these findings. An 8 years old girl developed hemolytic anemia and hepatotoxicity after administration of PABA for 4 months. Symptoms were reversed 2 months after discontinuing the supplement (Tootoonchi, P., 2018). PABA has also been reported to cause depigmentation (Hughes, C. G., 1983).
Vitamin E (Szczurko, O. and Boon, H.S., 2008) and vitamin C have also been shown to support re-pigmentation potentially due to their antioxidant properties.
The results in the above studies are very promising. However, as I mentioned already, in certain cases there have been adverse effects such as the development of cirrhosis which highlights the importance of complementary testing and supervision.
Abdel-Fattah, A., Aboul-Enein, M. N., Wasset, G. M., & El-Menshawi, B. S. (1982). An approach to the treatment of vitiligo by khellin. Dermatology, 165(2), 136-140.
Camacho, F. and Mazuecos, J., 1999. Treatment of vitiligo with oral and topical phenylalanine: 6 years of experience. Archives of dermatology, 135(2), pp.216-217.
Cormane, R.H., Siddiqui, A.H., Westerhof, W. and Schutgens, R.B.H., 1985. Phenylalanine and UVA light for the treatment of vitiligo. Archives of Dermatological Research, 277(2), pp.126-130.
de LEEUW, J., MAIERHOFER, G., & NEUGEBAUER, W. D. (2003). A case study to evaluate the treatment of vitiligo with khellin encapsulated in L‐phenylalanin stabilized phosphatidylcholine liposomes in combination with ultraviolet light therapy. European Journal of Dermatology, 13(5), 474-477.
Hughes, C. G. (1983). Oral PABA and vitiligo. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 9(5), 770.
Szczurko, O. and Boon, H.S., 2008. A systematic review of natural health product treatment for vitiligo. BMC dermatology, 8(1), p.2.
Sieve, B. F. (1942). The clinical effects of a new B-complex factor, para-aminobenzoic acid, on pigmentation and fertility. South Med Surg, 104(135), 9.
Orecchia, G., Sangalli, M. E., Gazzaniga, A., & Giordano, F. (1998). Topical photochemotherapy of vitiligo with a new khellin formulation: preliminary clinical results. Journal of dermatological treatment, 9(2), 65-69.
Ortel, B., Tanew, A., & Hönigsmann, H. (1988). Treatment of vitiligo with khellin and ultraviolet A. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 18(4), 693-701.
Tootoonchi, P. (2018). Hemolytic Anemia and Other Side Effects of Para-amino Benzoic Acid in an 8-Year-Old Girl. Iranian Journal of Pediatric Hematology & Oncology, 8(3).
