Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in Vitiligo Patients in Comparison With the Control Group

Vitiligo is an autoimmune pigmentary skin disease. Recently, the association of chronic inflammatory conditions with metabolic syndrome (MS) and oxidative stress has been demonstrated in skin diseases such as lichen planus and psoriasis. In this study, the prevalence of MS in patients with vitiligo was compared to the control group.

This case-control study included 65 patients with vitiligo and 65 healthy participants in the control group who have referred to the dermatologic clinic in the Afzalipour Hospital of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Demographic features and laboratory data of participants were collected and analyzed by SPSS 16 using chi-square and independent t tests.

There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of age, gender, and body mass index (BMI). The mean values of MS parameters were not significant between the two groups. Systolic hypertension (HTN) was significantly higher in the vitiligo group than in the control group (P=0.03). Increasing the length of the disease by one year increased the chance of MS occurrence by 7%.

In the current study, systolic HTN was significantly higher in vitiligo patients compared to the control group. MS was also more common in vitiligo patients than in the control group, but the result was not statistically significant.