Among disorders of pigmentation, vitiligo is the most common, with an estimated prevalence between 0.5% and 1%. The disease has gathered increased attention in the most recent years, leading to a better understanding of the disease's pathophysiology and its implications and to the development of newer therapeutic strategies. A better, more integrated approach is already in use for other chronic inflammatory dermatological diseases such as psoriasis, for which metabolic comorbidities are well-established and part of the routine clinical evaluation. The pathogenesis of these might be linked to cytokines which also play a role in vitiligo pathogenesis, such as IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α, and possibly IL-17. Following the reports of intrinsic metabolic alterations reported by our group, in this brief review, we analyze the available data on metabolic comorbidities in vitiligo, accompanied by our single-center experience. Increased awareness of the metabolic aspects of vitiligo is crucial to improving patient care.
Keywords: adipocytes; atherosclerosis; cell–cell cross-talk; comorbidities; melanocytes; metabolic syndrome; vitiligo.