What Are The Individual Factors Associated with Propensity To Vitiligo?

What are the individual factors associated  with propensity to vitiligo? 

Key points 

Heridity: 20% of people with vitiligo report about a first degree relative as the one suffering from vitiligo. 

Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) haplotype may contribute to vitiligo susceptibility. 

A number of pathological conditions have been associated with vitiligo: their presence might be considered a  propensity to disease development. 

The disease onset is frequently associated with stressful life events. 

Physical trauma of skin may induce vitiligo (Koebner phenomenon). 

Answer 

It is well known that heredity is an issue in  vitiligo propensity. In fact, around 20% of people  with vitiligo report about a first degree relative as  the one suffering from the same disorder. Children  of a vitiligo-affected subject have a 1.7-fold  increased risk of developing vitiligo compared  with other family members. HLA haplotypes may  contribute to generalized vitiligo susceptibility, i.e.  HLAs -A2, -DR4, - DR7 and -DQB1 0303. 

NALP-1 gene (NACHT leucine rich- repeat  protein 1) is a major susceptibility gene that is  epidemiologically linked to generalized vitiligo  and other autoimmune diseases (i.e. thyroid  disease, pernicious anemia, and lupus  erythematosus). 

Patients already affected by the following  diseases are more prone to develop vitiligo (and  vice versa): 

Alopecia areata Pernicious anemia IgA selective  defect 

Thyroid autoimmune disease 

Addison’s disease 

Congenital melanocytic neviMELAS syndrome  (mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis,  and stroke episodes syndrome). 

Stressful life events, probably interfering with  the psycho-neuro-endocrine-immune system, and  physical traumas of skin, including solar burns,  may easily promote vitiligo onset in predisposed  subjects.