Title
Correlation of disease activity in vitiligo patients and its relation with HSP70 expression
Authors
Anup Kumar Mishra1, Devesh Saraswat1, Suneel Singh Sengar1, Ayushi Jain1,* & Sanjay Kumar Pandey2
Affiliation
1Department of Dermatology, Shyam Shah Medical College and associated Hospitals, Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, India; 2Multi-Disciplinary Research Unit, Shyam Shah Medical College Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, India; *Corresponding author
Anup Kumar Mishra - E-mail: anupmishra83@gmail.com
Devesh Saraswat - E-mail: deveshsaraswat@yahoo.com
Suneel Singh Sengar - E-mail: suneelsinghsengar@gmail.com
Ayushi Jain - E-mail: jainayushi703@gmail.com
Sanjay Kumar Pandey - E-mail: mdrurewa2014@gmail.com
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received February 1, 2026; Revised February 28, 2026; Accepted February 28, 2026, Published February 28, 2026
Abstract
An acquired pigmenting disorder, vitiligo, occurs worldwide with a prevalence of 0.5-2% and in India with 0.25%-4%. Stress-related pathways are involved may contribute to autoimmune melanocyte loss and HSP-70 (a stress-response molecular chaperone with immune-modulatory effects) may be a key link between stress and disease activity. In this case–control study, 40 vitiligo patients and 40 age and sex-matched controls underwent skin biopsies (lesional and non-lesional skin in patients; normal skin in controls) and HSP-70 mRNA expression was quantified using real-time PCR; patients were also grouped as highly active, moderately active or inactive based on clinical activity. Lesional vitiligo skin showed significantly higher HSP-70 expression than non-lesional skin and control skin (both P < 0.001), with higher mean levels in active compared with inactive vitiligo, while no association was found with age, sex or disease duration-supporting a role of HSP-70–related stress mechanisms in vitiligo pathogenesis and activity.
Keywords
Heat shock protein-70 (HSP-70), messenger RNA (mRNA), real-time PCR, vitiligo
Citation
Mishra et al. Bioinformation 22(2): 1285-1288 (2026)
Edited by
P Kangueane
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
