Although vitiligo is a multifactorial skin disease, accumulating data
have strongly indicated that melanocytes are ultimately destroyed by a
cascade of autoimmune responses. Contrast to widely accepted T
cell-based cellular immunity, the role of B cell-based humoral immunity
in vitiligo remains elusive. The present study investigated the changes
of distributions and fucntions of circulating B cells and Tfh cells in
patients with active non-segmental vitiligo. Compared with HC, the
antibody secreting B cells in circulation were statistically increased
along with high positive ratio of melanocyte specific antibodies in sera
of patients. Meanwhile, the proportion of circulating Tfh cells was
significantly elevated concomitant with increased Tfh17 cells and
reduced Tfh2 subgroup as well as unchanged Tfh1 cells. The levels of
IL-10 and IgM were greatly decreased while no statistical changes were
found in IL-21, total IgG, IgE and IgA concentrations in sera of
patients. Besides, vitiligo-derived circulating Tfh cells presented
enhancement in inducing IgG production. Our study shed light on B
cell-based humoral immunity in the pathogenesis of vitiligo and
indicated that altered Tfh cells favored the differentiation of antibody
secreting B cells and production of melanocyte-specific autoantibodies
that may contribute to further progression of vitiligo.