Vitiligo - Pepper Extract May Offer Hope

[Harry Hirsute]

LONDON (Reuters) - Black pepper could lead to better treatments for a disfiguring skin condition that affects about 1 percent of the world's population, British researchers said on Thursday.

A team at King's College London showed in a study of mice that piperine -- the compound that gives black pepper its spicy, pungent flavor -- and its synthetic derivatives helped stimulate pigmentation in the skin of people with vitiligo.

Piperine was particularly effective when combined with phototherapy treatment using ultraviolet radiation, the researchers said in a study to be published in the British Journal of Dermatology.

"We have shown that topical treatment with piperine stimulates even pigmentation in the skin," Antony Young, a photobiologist at King's College who worked on the study, said in a statement.

http://www.reuters.com/article/healt...e=ushealth1100

[scorpiotiger]

I wonder if this would help in any splotchy skin condition? like acne?

but, I guess inflammation doesn't change color through pigmentation, does it?

[Harry Hirsute]

Hmm. I don't know. Based on the conventional treatment options, it seems as if there is an inflammatory component to Vitiligo. But, it appears to be much more complex than that ...

Causes:

Four pathogenic theories have been discussed, as follows:

• Immune hypothesis: Aberration of immune surveillance results in melanocyte dysfunction or destruction.

• Neural hypothesis: A neurochemical mediator destroys melanocytes or inhibits melanin production.

• Self-destruction hypothesis: An intermediate or metabolic product of melanin synthesis causes melanocyte destruction.

• Genetic hypothesis: Melanocytes have an inherent abnormality that impedes their growth and differentiation in conditions that support normal melanocytes.

• Because none of these theories alone is entirely satisfactory, some have suggested a composite hypothesis.

http://www.emedicine.com/DERM/topic453.htm