Autoantibodies in Vitiligo

TO THE EDITOR.— The association of vitiligo with a number of organspecific autoimmune disorders, such as pernicious anemia,1 hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism,2 Addison disease,3 and diabetes mellitus4 is well known. An increased incidence of organ-specific antibodies was reported in patients with vitiligo,5,6 but, more recently, no statistically significant incidence of autoantibodies was found in vitiligo patients.7One of the difficulties in accepting an autoimmune form of vitiligo has been the absence of circulating antimelanocyte antibodies; only Von Langhof et al8 found an "antimelanin antibody" in serum samples from patients with vitiligo, but their report was not confirmed.7 Antibodies against the cytoplasm of malignant melanoma cells have been found in cases of vitiligo associated with resolving halo nevus, but not in isolated vitiligo.9We here report our attempts to demonstrate a specific antimelanocyte antibody in sera of patients with vitiligo. PATIENTS AND METHODS.—