Evaluation of nail characteristics in patients with vitiligo

Background: Vitiligo is an acquired skin discoloration with melanocytic destruction. Vitiligo is associated with other autoimmune disorders; hence, an autoimmune etiology is among the most important theories for this disorder. The nails can be involved in numerous cutaneous or systemic non-cutaneous disorders. We have taken into consideration previous studies on nail abnormalities in vitiligo and alopecia areata (AA), which are ethologically closely-related, in addition to the few, not well designed studies on nail changes in vitiligo, and lack of similar studies in Iran. This case-control study was conducted to evaluate the autoimmune etiology of vitiligo with a larger number of participants. Methods: In this case-control study, we assessed the nail characteristics of 303 participants at Razi Hospital, Tehran, Iran from 2013-2014. These changes were also assessed in terms of diseases properties of the case group and included distribution, duration, and presence of other concomitant cutaneous disorders. Results: There was a statistically significant odd’s ratio (OR) for leukonychia in the case and control groups. The relationship between the prevalence of leukonychia and disease duration was meaningful (P<0.05). The risk of longitudinal ridging was approximately 1.5 times higher in vitiligo patients, which was not statistically significant (P>0.05). There was no other significant difference between each type of nail abnormality in the case and control groups. We observed no association between these abnormalities and disease duration. None of the nail abnormalities, including leukonychia, had an association with distribution pattern of the disorder. Conclusion: Leukonychia was the most common abnormality in nails of vitiligo patients that had a relation to disease duration.