Immunological features driving distinct repigmentation patterns in patients with stable vitiligo submitted to the autologous keratinocyte/melanocyte transplantation.

This study aimed to characterize biomarkers of therapeutic response in patients with stable vitiligo undergoing the autologous non-cultured keratinocyte/melanocyte transplantation. The approaches performed were systemic analysis evaluated during pre-transplantation/(D0), seven/(D7), and 28 or more/(D28-45) days after the procedure and compartmentalized analysis in epidermal cell suspension (explant). Increased number of pro-inflammatory monocytes and NK-cells was found during the transplantation follow-up in vitiligo patients compared to the control. There were higher numbers of CD8+T-cells and CD4+HLA-DR+T-cells circulating at D28-45 compared to D0, and increased number of CD8+HLA-DR+T-cells at D28-45 compared to D7. Decreased levels of the most pro-inflammatory chemokines/cytokines during post-transplantation kinetics timeline were observed. Integrative analysis demonstrated that patients with unsatisfactory repigmentation presented higher numbers of connections between the blood/skin components at D0. The data suggest differentiated profiles in the dynamics of the hematological/immunological biomarkers, according to the kinetics timeline and the clinical outcome of repigmentation in vitiligo patients.