Pepper Compound Could Aid Millions with Vitiligo further update on research news – April 2008 Pepper could hold answer to vitiligo treatment For immediate release, Black pepper could provide a new treatment for the skin disease vitiligo, groundbreaking new research in the British Journal of Dermatology will reveal. Vitiligo is a condition in which areas of skin lose their normal pigment and so become white. It is common, and affects about one in every hundred people. It is of particular concern in people with darker skins. Current treatments include corticosteroids applied to the skin, and phototherapy using UV radiation (UVR) to re-pigment the skin. Both, however, carry possible long-term side effects and are not always effective. In particular, less than a quarter of patients respond successfully to corticosteroids, while UVR causes a re-pigmentation that is spotted and patchy and in the long-term could lead to a higher risk of skin cancer. But now a team of scientists at King’s College London have discovered that piperine - the compound that gives black pepper its spicy, pungent flavour - and its synthetic derivatives can stimulate pigmentation in the skin, especially when combined with UVR treatment. The researchers compared the effects of piperine and its analogues tetrahydrpiperine (THP), cyclohexyl analogue of piperine (CHP) and reduced CHP (rCHP) when applied either alone or followed by UVR. Treatment was also interrupted in certain groups to see how long-term the effects would be. While CHP did not show significant results, piperine, THP and rCHP did induce pigmentation in the skin. Used alone, the compounds stimulated pigmentation to an even, light brown colour within six weeks. However, by accompanying use of piperine or THP with UVR, the skin became significantly darker, and within only seven weeks. Furthermore, the pigmentation was even, compared to the patchy pigmentation caused by UVR treatment alone. The researchers also found that for skin treated with a piperine compound, just four exposures of UVR were sufficient to significantly darken the skin. However, when using UVR alone, more than 10 exposures were needed to produce a similar but less even response. The results also took longer to fade in those treated with both a piperine compound and UVR, and did not disappear completely. By contrast, there was no remaining detectable pigmentation within the same timeframe for skin treated only with UVR. Additionally, when treatment was resumed, results were noticeable faster in the group treated with piperine compounds. The team believe that their remarkable findings are due to piperine stimulating the production of the skin’s pigment cells, called melanocytes. Professor Antony Young, Photobiologist at St John’s Institute of Dermatology, Guy’s Hospital, London, and one of the study’s authors, said: “We have shown that topical treatment with piperine stimulates even pigmentation in the skin. Combining this with UVR significantly enhances the pigmentation with results that are cosmetically better than conventional vitiligo therapies. This provides strong support for the future clinical evaluation of piperine and its derivatives as novel treatments for vitiligo.” Nina Goad of the British Association of Dermatologists said: “These findings could potentially lead to the development of treatments that not only provide improved results, but could also reduce the need for UV radiation in vitiligo treatment, in turn lowering the risk of skin cancer. “Vitiligo is a highly visible disease that can greatly affect patients psychologically and emotionally. Any breakthrough in treatments of this disease is most welcome.” British Association of Dermatologists, |