Examination of soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptorlevel in patients with vitiligo and investigation of its relationship with diseaseactivity

Soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) is associated with the activation of the immune system and provides information about the level of both inflammatory cells and proteases formed during inflammation. The role of suPAR level in inflammation has been investigated in various rheumatological diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, Behçet's disease and ankylosing spondylitis. The aim of this study is to examine the suPAR level in vitiligo patients for the first time and to reveal its possible relationship with clinical and laboratory findings. For this purpose, 76 patients with vitiligo and 68 healthy controls were included. In addition to comparing the suPAR levels of the patient and control groups, the relationship between the patients' demographic, clinical and laboratory findings and suPAR levels was investigated. There was no significant difference in median suPAR level between the patient (52.6% female) and the control group (57.4% female) [2470 (1761-11376) pg/mL vs. 2943 (1756-13592)pg/mL; p<0,001]. It was shown that there was a significant correlation between serum suPAR level with VIDA score (r = 0.264; p = 0.021) and BPLeFoSK score (r = -0.302; p = 0.008) in vitiligo patients. Among the dermatological examination findings, the presence of perifollicular depigmentation, sharp borders and pigment networks were found to be associated with lower suPAR levels (p=0.016; p=0.012 and p=0.009, respectively). As a result, although suPAR level in vitiligo patients does not differ significantly compared to healthy controls, it can provide information about disease activity and stability. The presence of perifollicular depigmentation, sharp borders and pigment networks may indicate lower inflammation severity in vitiligo patients.