Narrow‐band UVB for the treatment of vitiligo: an emerging effective and well‐tolerated therapy

Abstract

Background Vitiligo is an acquired depigmentation disorder of great cosmetic importance, affecting 1% of the general population. Photochemotherapy is the most commonly used treatment modality in extensive vitiligo, but is associated with many short-and long-term side-effects. Recently, narrow-band ultraviolet B (NBUVB) therapy has been reported to be an effective and safe therapeutic option in patients with vitiligo. We studied the efficacy and safety of NBUVB (311 nm) therapy in Indian patients with generalized vitiligo.Methods Fourteen patients (six males and eight females), aged 12 -56 years, with generalized vitiligo, were treated thrice weekly with NBUVB radiation therapy for a maximum period of 1 year.Results At the end of 1 year, 10 patients (71.4%) had marked to complete repigmentation and two each (14.3%) had moderate or mild repigmentation. Repigmentation sites showed an excellent color match. The response to therapy was correlated with the sites of involvement, duration of disease, and compliance to therapy. Adverse events were limited and transient.Conclusion NBUVB therapy is effective and safe in Indian patients with vitiligo. Long-term follow up is required, however, to establish the stability of repigmentation.

Efficacy of targeted narrowband ultraviolet B therapy in vitiligo: a prospective study

“…6,8,11,14,15 Our study and other Indian studies showed that dark skin (Fitzpatrick type IV and V) requires lesser number of exposures and cumulative dose to achieve 25.75% repigmentation when compared with white skin (Fitzpatrick I and II). 7,12,13 It has also been observed in our study that with good adherence to therapy and compliance, faster and good response can be achieved. It has been proved statistically that good response is directly associated with more number of exposures, cumulative dose and good compliance.…”

“…Narrow-band ultraviolet B (NBUVB) is an emerging, effective and safe therapy for vitiligo. [5][6][7] It is as effective as PUVA, without side effects. 8,9 In 1997, Westerhof and Nieuweboer-Krobotova were the first to study the effect of NBUVB in vitiligo.…”

Targeted phototherapy

“…In another study, higher success rates were observed with NB-UVB (63%) than with oral PUVA (51%) [35]. As in the western population, NB-UVB phototherapy produces a cosmetically good color match in Indian patients [36].…”

Comparison Treatment of Vitiligo by Co-culture of Melanocytes Derived from Hair Follicle with Adipose-Derived Stem Cells with and without NB-UVB

“…In a study by Kanwar et al [33] showed that dark skin (Fitzpatrick type IV and V) requires lesser number of exposures and cumulative dose to achieve 25-75% repigmentation when compared with white skin (Fitzpatrick I, II and III). This result match with our study, skin type has statistically significant value (p value 0.048) as skin type IV showed faster and good response than skin type III.…”