Editorial
On the etiology of vitiligo and gray hair

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Abstract

From an analysis of the clinical features of vitiligo and of the chemicals that cause depigmentation, a melanocyte self-destruct hypothesis for the etiology of vitiligo and graying of hair can be derived. A melanin precursor, one that is either a phenol or a catechol derivative or the phenol-tyrosinase complex, is lethal for melanocytes. When the natural mechanism that protects against the precursor is lost, the melanocytes are destroyed.

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    1

    From the Section of Dermatology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510.

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