Level of long noncoding RNA taurine upregulated gene 1 after narrow band-ultraviolet B phototherapy in vitiligo

Background Vitiligo is a skin disease that is characterized by depigmenting lesions as a result of melanocytes destruction. Long noncoding Taurine upregulated gene 1 (lnc TUG-1) is one of the long noncoding RNA (lnc RNA) family members. The role of lncRNA TUG1 in melanogenesis has been investigated in recent studies. Objective To investigate the impact of narrow-band ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) on lncTUG-1 expression in vitiligo. Patients and methods The first step of this work was a case control study that included thirty vitiligo patients and thirty healthy controls. four mm skin biopsies were taken from normal skin in healthy controls and from depigmenting lesions in vitiligo patients. The second step was a prospective single-arm interventional study in which patients were subjected to 12 weeks of NB-UVB phototherapy and biopsies were taken from repigmenting areas. Biopsies were kept frozen at −80°C till by real-time polymerase chain reaction was conducted to evaluate the lnc TUG-1 expression. Results The mean lnc TUG-1 expression in skin tissue biopsies of the vitiligo patients was significantly lower compared with control skin biopsies (0.307±0.202 ng/mg vs 1.03±0.063 pg/mg, respectively, P<0.001). Although the level of lnc TUG-1 was not normalized, the mean value of lnc TUG-1 significantly increased after 12 weeks treatment with NB-UVB compared with its value before phototherapy (0.0687 ng/mg vs. 0.307 ng/mg, respectively, P<0.001). Conclusion The lnc TUG-1 could be a possible player in the pathogenesis of vitiligo and repigmentation of vitiligo after NB-UVB phototherapy.