ABSTRACT
Vitiligo is a multifactorial cutaneous hypopigmentary disease. The available treatments for this disease include camouflage products, topical steroids, and phototherapy. Autologous transplantation of cultured melanocytes is considered an alternative method to treat vitiligo patients. The skin graft is collected from normal pigmented skin of the patient and trypsinized for separating epidermis from dermis. Single-cell suspension is formed from the epidermis and cultured until cells become confluent and abundant in number. The cultured melanocytes are harvested and used for transplantation at the sites of vitiligo lesions in stable vitiligo. It is an efficient method with the advantage of treating the highest donor-to-recipient size ratio. However, the disadvantage of this culturing technique is that it is a time-consuming procedure and takes several weeks to grow the melanocyte culture. In addition, culturing and transfer of melanocytes requires highly skilled personnel.
