Antioxidant mechanisms of mesenchymal stem cells and their therapeutic potential in vitiligo

Front Cell Dev Biol. 2023 Dec 21:11:1293101. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1293101. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Vitiligo is a skin pigmentation disorder caused by melanocyte damage or abnormal function. Reac-tive oxygen species Reactive oxygen species can cause oxidative stress damage to melanocytes, which in turn induces vitiligo. Traditional treatments such as phototherapy, drugs, and other methods of treatment are long and result in frequent recurrences. Currently, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are widely used in the research of various disease treatments due to their excellent paracrine effects, making them a promising immunoregulatory and tissue repair strategy. Furthermore, an increasing body of evi-dence suggests that utilizing the paracrine functions of MSCs can downregulate oxidative stress in the testes, liver, kidneys, and other affected organs in animal models of certain diseases. Addition-ally, MSCs can help create a microenvironment that promotes tissue repair and regeneration in are-as with oxidative stress damage, improving the disordered state of the injured site. In this article, we review the pathogenesis of oxidative stress in vitiligo and promising strategies for its treatment.

Keywords: antioxidant; melanocyte; mesenchymal stem cells; oxidative stress; reactive oxygen species; vitiligo.

Publication types

  • Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was funded by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82160599).