Detection of antibodies to melanocytes in vitiligo by specific immunoprecipitation.

Immunoprecipitation was used to assay for antibodies to normal human melanocytes in the sera of 12 patients with common vitiligo and 12 normal individuals. The procedure is based on the specific immunoprecipitation using protein A-sepharose of antibodies binding to detergent-soluble, radioiodinated macromolecules of normal human melanocytes grown in culture. Antibodies to melanocytes were found in all 12 patients with vitiligo but in none of the normal sera. None of the sera reacted specifically to normal human fibroblasts or to human melanoma cells radioiodinated in a similar manner. These observations suggest that antibodies to melanocyte-associated antigens are present in common vitiligo.