The clinical efficacy of treatment using the autologous non-cultured epidermal cell suspension technique for stable vitiligo in 41 patients

Abstract

Background: Vitiligo is an acquired depigmentation skin disorder mainly caused by the destruction of melanocytes. There are many therapeutic options available for vitiligo, but the options are not uniformly effective.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the clinical effect of the autologous non-cultured epidermal cell suspension (NCES) technique in the treatment of patients with stable vitiligo.

Methods: A retrospective study of before-after comparisons was undertaken with 41 patients with stable vitiligo who received treatment with the NCES technique. The percentage of repigmentation area was evaluated using image analysis of the appearance before and 6–9 months after operation.

Results: A total of 41 patients (18 males and 23 females) with a duration of clinical stability for ranging from 1 to 10 years (mean 1.6 ± 1.9) were included. The mean age was 20.2 years (range, 8–50) and 4 (9.8%) were children under the age of 14 years. After 6–9 months of follow-up, 80.5% (33/41) of the patients showed good response; among these patients, 17.1% (7/41) showed complete or almost complete repigmentation. Interestingly, all 4 children showed very good response (more than 76% repigmentation). There were no significant differences in the efficacy of treatment between the different transplantation areas of the facial neck, trunk, and distal limbs and there were no adverse effects such as infection or scar formation.

Limitation: This study included only a single center with a small sample size.

Conclusions: Our study shows that the NCES technique has a high therapeutic effect, is safe for patients with stable vitiligo, and may be a very promising potential option for treating children.

Keywords:

• NCES technique
• stable vitiligo
• repigmentation
• melanocyte

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong (Grant No. 2016A030313471 and 2018A0303130011), the Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou (Grant No. 201904010191), the Medical and Health Technology Projects of Guangzhou (Grant No. 20171A011284), the Medical Science and Technology Research Foundation of Guangdong Province (Grant No. A2017311), and Funded by Open Foundation of Key Laboratory of Dermatology, Ministry of Education, P.R. China (Grant No. AYV2018-1-014).