Effects on melanin particle-containing hair follicles and epidermal cells in vitiligo mice
Melanogenesis occurs in melanosomes, which are then transported to basal layer cells and hair follicles together with melanin. The amount of melanin in the normal skin is constant. Melanin is silver-compatible and argyrophilic. It can absorb ferrous ions, Lillie staining can show veins in a deep blue colour. Therefore, this staining method was selected to determine the number of epidermal cells containing melanin particles in each group under a light microscope. The average number of melanin-containing cells was calculated in every 100 basal cells and in every 50 hair follicles. The number of melanin-containing hair follicles in the back skin of the model group and the number of melanocytes in the basal layer were significantly decreased compared with that in the control group (Fig. 5a). The number of melanin-containing hair follicles in the skin and the number of basal cells were significantly increased (Fig. 5b), indicating that the compound induced a certain colour-reducing effect on the HQ-induced vitiligo mouse model, even at low doses.