Background: Vitiligo is a common skin disorder resulting from the destruction of melanocytes. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been linked to a variety of extrahepatic manifestations, including skin diseases.
Aim: To measure the prevalence of HCV-seroreactivity among vitiligo patients.
Methods: This cross-sectional study included 108 vitiligo patients. Serum anti-HCV antibodies were detected by chemiluminescence immunoassay.
Results: Eighteen patients (16.7%) out of 108 were HCV-reactive; all of them had adult-onset vitiligo. They represented approximately 34.6% of the total patients with adult-onset vitiligo (52 patients). On the contrary, all patients with childhood-onset vitiligo were HCV-non-reactive. Moreover, adult-onset vitiligo was significantly associated with HCV-seroreactivity (p < .001). Also, there was a significant difference between HCV-reactive and HCV-non-reactive vitiligo patients regarding the age of patients and their ages at the onset of vitiligo (p < .001).
Conclusions: HCV may be the triggering factor for adult-onset vitiligo, particularly in regions with a high prevalence of HCV. Therefore, patients with adult-onset vitiligo, rather than childhood-onset disease, should be screened for associated HCV infection in HCV-endemic regions.
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