(Tuesday, may 8, HealthDay News) - the color of the eyes can help predict the risk of vitiligo, an autoimmune disease in which the skin loses its pigmentation, a new study finds.
The study of almost 3,000 non - Hispanic European Americans found people with blue eyes are less likely to have vitiligo. Researchers have also identified 13 new genes that may predispose people to the condition, which often results in uneven patches of white skin and hair.
About 27% of people with vitiligo had eyes grey/blue, compared to 52 per cent of Americans of European origin non-Hispanic without the condition of the skin. Meanwhile, 43% of people with vitiligo had eyes brown red or Brown, compared to 27 percent non-Hispanic European Americans. Approximately 30% of patients with vitiligo was green or hazel eyes.
Although the study focused on vitiligo, the researchers noted that their findings may shed light on how the color of the eyes can help predict the risk of the people for melanoma. People with brown eyes are under risk of melanoma.
"Genetically, in some ways vitiligo and melanoma are opposed polar.". Some of the genetic variations that make one more likely to have some vitiligo same be less likely to have melanoma and vice versa, "Dr. Richard Spritz, Director of the human genetics and genomics program at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, said in a press release from the University." "" Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease, in which the human immune system attack normal pigment cells. We believe that this vitiligo is hyperactivity of a normal process that seeks the immune system and destroyed cells cancer melanoma at the beginning. »
Given that people with vitiligo are more at risk of other autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes and thyroid disease, the study concluded that their findings may help scientists learn more about the genetic basis of these diseases as well.
The study appeared online may 6 in the journal Nature Genetics.
More information
Vitiligo American Research Foundation provides more information about vitiligo and melanoma.
SOURCE: University of Colorado School of Medicine, press release, may 7, 2012
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