Is it true that genetics may play a part in vitiligo?

Most experts believe that there is a genetic base to vitiligo which leads to susceptibility. In about 12% of families where a person has vitiligo, the condition is seen in another family member. Though no one else in your family may show signs of vitiligo, it is still possible that it is passed on genetically. The most likely reason for this is that more than one gene is responsible for the development of vitiligo. In fact, a combination of genes that may prove to be involved. In some cases, an independent stimulus may cause the condition to onset.

Genes are inherited in a random fashion from both parents, so only sometimes will the genes which make a person susceptible to vitiligo come together in the same person. Those who do not inherit a complete set of the abnormal genes are unlikely to develop the disorder. Those people who do inherit a complete set may also need some other factor to trigger the vitiligo patches to appear. In this way vitiligo genes can pass through several generations of a family without anyone actually developing vitiligo.

Currently, researchers are studying the genetic aspects of vitiligo, using gene-sequencing computers and the mapping of the human genome to determine how genetic therapy and technology might help treat or arrest vitiligo.

What is genetic susceptibility?

This is the theory that the susceptibility or predisposition to vitiligo is genetic, and that some defect in the genetic structure, makes people more susceptible to vitiligo. While we do see vitiligo in more than one family member about 20% of the time, about 80% of patients report no other family members with vitiligo. Many experts agree that not everyone who is susceptible to vitiligo will necessarily develop it. Recent genetic studies, which ran the DNA of hundreds of people with vitiligo through gene sequencing computers, have produced important information about the enzyme operations in the bodies of those with vitiligo, which may help researchers better understand how to treat the underlying cause of vitiligo.

As with all genes, people may carry the defect that causes vitiligo, and even pass it on to their children, without ever developing vitiligo themselves. Thus other factors, including environmental and personality factors, may play a role in the onset (beginning) of vitiligo.