行政院國家科學委員會專題研究計畫成果報告:白斑病人皮膚角質細胞與黑色素細胞之交互作用

Changes in catecholamine levels in vitiligo patients have been debated. However, there was no previous report about in vivo cutaneous levels of catecholamines, their precursors and metabolites in vitiligo lesions. Furthermore, a detailed study about the levels of precursors and metabolites in the serotonin pathway has not been conducted. In this study, blister fluid samples from the lesional and nonlesional sites of eight stable, nonsegmental vitiligo patients were examined. We simultaneously measured the concentrations of the following substances by high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detector (HPLC-ECD): norepinephrine (NE), 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG), epinephrine (EP), normetanephrine (NM), dopamine (DM), metanephrine (MN), 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl acetic acid (Dopac), 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid (5-HIAA), 5-hydroxytryptamine hydrochloride (serotonin; 5-HT), and homovanillic acid (HVA). There were significantly higher levels of Dopac, 5-HIAA and HVA in the lesional than in the nonlesional sites ( p