Cutaneous expression of thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) in vitiligo patients: a case‐control study

BACKGROUND: Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is a major pro-allergic cytokine promoting T helper-2 responses. Our aim was to study and verify the hypothesis of the role of TSLP in the pathogenesis of vitiligo. METHODS: This case-control study was conducted on 25 patients with generalized non-segmental vitiligo (recruited from the Dermatology outpatient clinic, Kasr El Ainy, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University) and 25 healthy controls fulfilling the inclusion criteria over a period of 7 months (January 2017-July 2017). Patients underwent complete medical history, detailed assessment of vitiligo, and photographic documentation. Skin biopsies were taken from the back from both patients' vitiliginous skin and from normal skin of controls for which relative TSLP messenger RNA (mRNA) tissue expression levels were measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction technique. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference between the TSLP mRNA expression levels in patients and controls (P < 0.001) with lower levels in the former group. CONCLUSION: This study revealed lower TSLP mRNA expression levels in vitiliginous skin than in normal skin suggesting an imminent role of TSLP in the pathogenesis of vitiligo.