Non-invasive, label-free, two-photon detection of epithelial metabolic precursors to repigmentation in vitiligo micrografts

Vitiligo is a disorder characterized by the loss of skin pigment due to the autoimmune destruction of epidermal melanocytes. Treatments that aim to repigment vitiligo regions are long, incomplete, and suffer from a highly variable success rate. This study aims to use non-invasive, depth-resolved, label-free, two-photon detection of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) to quantitatively evaluate mitochondrial dynamics in vitiligo micrografting patients during the repigmentation process. This study indicates differences in the depth-dependent mitochondrial profiles between healthy and vitiligo tissues. This study also indicates that vitiligo regions responsive to treatment exhibit depth-dependent shifts in mitochondrial dynamics prior to repigmentation.