Suction blistering the lesional skin of vitiligo patients reveals useful biomarkers of disease activity

JP Strassner, M Rashighi, MA Refat… - Journal of the American …, 2017 - Elsevier
Background Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease of the skin with limited treatment options;
there is an urgent need to identify and validate biomarkers of disease activity to support
vitiligo clinical studies. Objective To investigate potential biomarkers of disease activity
directly in the skin of vitiligo subjects and healthy subjects. Methods Patient skin was
sampled via a modified suction-blister technique, allowing for minimally invasive, objective
assessment of cytokines and T-cell infiltrates in the interstitial skin fluid. Potential biomarkers …