Melanocyte transplantation to skin prepared by controlled PUVA-induced sunburn-like blistering for vitiligo treatment - A pilot clinical trial

Po-Hua Chen; Sabrina Mai-Yi Fan; Bin-Ru She; Yi-Ping Wu; Hsiang-Chun Hsu; Ying-Jung Yang; Jun-Jae Huang; Shu-Fen Yeh; Yi-Chen Chen; Pei-Ju Lin; Wann-Hsin Chen; Hsien-Ching Chiu; Hsin-Su Yu; Chih-Ching Liao; Sung-Jan Lin

doi:10.1016/j.jfma.2023.12.005

Melanocyte transplantation to skin prepared by controlled PUVA-induced sunburn-like blistering for vitiligo treatment - A pilot clinical trial

J Formos Med Assoc. 2023 Dec 28:S0929-6646(23)00485-0. doi: 10.1016/j.jfma.2023.12.005. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Dermatology, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
² Center for Cell Therapy, Department of Biomedical Research, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
³ Biomedical Technology and Device Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
⁴ Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
⁵ Biomedical Technology and Device Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu, Taiwan. Electronic address: RitaLiao@itri.org.tw.
⁶ Department of Dermatology, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Research Center for Developmental Biology and Regenerative Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Center for Frontier Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: drsjlin@ntu.edu.tw.

PMID: 38158260
DOI: 10.1016/j.jfma.2023.12.005

Abstract

Vitiligo is a common acquired disease of pigment loss. In lesions recalcitrant to non-invasive treatment, transplantation of cultured autologous melanocytes is an emerging choice. Conventionally, the recipient site is often prepared by laser-mediated or mechanical dermabrasion. Such preparation procedures have disadvantages including prolonged transplantation duration, long period for reepithelialization and potential scarring. We propose a method of preparing recipient sites by psoralen and controlled ultraviolet A (PUVA)-induced blistering followed by transplanting suspended melanocytes. We introduced this method in 10 patients with segmental vitiligo on their recipient site 3 to 5 days before transplantation and blistering developed in 2 to 3 days afterwards. On the day of transplantation, the blister roof could be peeled off easily without bleeding and the recipient site preparation could be completed in 20 min. The recipient site became reepithelialized within 1 week. Progressive repigmentation was observed for up to 6 months, with an average of 65.06% repigmentation in the recipient site without scarring at the end of follow-up. Hence, preparation of the recipient site by controlled PUVA-induced sunburn-like blistering can potentially facilitate melanocyte transplantation and prevent scarring.

Keywords: Melanocyte transplantation; Methoxsalen; Ultraviolet A; Vitiligo.