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Monographs of Topical Drugs that Have Caused Contact Allergy/Allergic Contact Dermatitis
Published in Anton C. de Groot, Monographs in Contact Allergy, 2021
Monobenzone is a monobenzyl ether of hydroquinone with topical depigmentation activity. Although the exact mechanism of action of depigmentation is unknown, the metabolites of monobenzone appear to have a cytotoxic effect on melanocytes. Furthermore, the depigmentation effect might be mediated through the inhibition of tyrosinase, which is essential in the synthesis of melanin pigments, thereby causing permanent depigmentation of the skin. Monobenzone has been used since the beginning of the 1950s to treat several forms of hyperpigmentation. After some years, many cases were being reported of dermatitis, depigmentation (long-lasting and sometimes permanent) and hyperpigmentation (9). From the 1970s on, it was, and still is used mainly to depigment residual pigmented areas in patients with very extensive therapy-resistant vitiligo (7). In the USA and the EU, its use in cosmetics has long been banned.
History and Cultural Aspects of Vitiligo
Published in Vineet Relhan, Vijay Kumar Garg, Sneha Ghunawat, Khushbu Mahajan, Comprehensive Textbook on Vitiligo, 2020
In the modern era, a number of systemic and topical treatments have been tried in vitiligo [22]. Systemic therapies tried with variable success include phenylalanine, antimalarials, khellin, levamisole, folic acid, and clofazimine [22]. Topical steroids and topical calcineurin inhibitors are reasonably effective in a proportion of cases [22]. The evidence for topical vitamin D derivatives, topical 5-fluorouracil, and pseudocatalase is less clear. In those individuals who have lost most of their natural color, application of monobenzone to the remaining pigmented areas may be a therapeutic option [22].
Anti-Melanoma immunity and local regression of cutaneous metastases in melanoma patients treated with monobenzone and imiquimod; a phase 2 a trial
Published in OncoImmunology, 2018
Hansje-Eva Teulings, Esther P. M. Tjin, Karina J. Willemsen, Stephanie van der Kleij, Sylvia ter Meulen, E. Helen Kemp, Gabrielle Krebbers, Carel J. M. van Noesel, Cornelis L. M. C. Franken, Jan W. Drijfhout, Cornelis J. M. Melief, Ludmila Nieuweboer-Krobotova, Omgo E. Nieweg, Jos A. van der Hage, J. P. Wietze van der Veen, Germaine N. Relyveld, Rosalie M. Luiten
We developed a new type of immunotherapy for melanoma using the vitiligo-inducing agent monobenzone combined with imiquimod and/or CpG oligodeoxynucleotide. Our preclinical results showed synergy of these compounds in specifically inducing antimelanoma immunity and tumor growth inhibition.5 Monobenzone (monobenzyl ether of hydroquinone) is a potent skin-bleaching agent that can induce vitiligo.6,7 It has been used in the past to achieve complete depigmentation in patients with vitiligo universalis.6 Importantly, monobenzone-induced depigmentation also occurs at distant, non-exposed skin sites in human beings, indicating the occurrence of systemic reactivity against melanocytes. The mechanism of action of monobenzone therapy consists of the selective interaction of monobenzone with tyrosinase, the rate-limiting enzyme in melanin synthesis, in both melanocytes and melanoma cells.8,9 This interaction leads to the inactivation of the tyrosinase enzyme and the formation of the reactive quinone product that is toxic to the melanocyte, and binds to melanosomal proteins, which increases the immunogenicity of these proteins. Together with the production of reactive oxygen species and the release of exosomes by monobenzone-exposed pigmented cells, this leads to the induction of systemic melanocyte/melanoma antigen-specific immunity.8,9 Monobenzone acts synergistically in combination with the Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists imiquimod (Aldara®) and CpG, to activate dendritic cells and induces effective immunity against established murine melanoma.5
Mechanisms of action of Lycium barbarum polysaccharide in protecting against vitiligo mice through modulation of the STAT3-Hsp70-CXCL9/CXCL10 pathway
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2023
Liqian Peng, Yue Lu, Yingming Gu, Bihua Liang, Yanhong Li, Huaping Li, Yanan Ke, Huilan Zhu, Zhenjie Li
Vitiligo is an acquired depigmentation skin disease characterized by the absence of epidermal melanocytes and the occurrence of depigmented white patches on the skin and mucous membranes. Monobenzone is a skin depigmenting agent that acts on melanocyte tyrosinase, induces pigment loss, forms quinone haptens, induces vitiligo-like immune responses through cross-presentation of immature human dendritic cells and autologous T lymphocytes and causes depigmentation in hyperpigmented skin and non-directly exposed areas (Arowojolu et al. 2017). LBP treatment effectively alleviated vitiligo severity in mice treated with monobenzone by reducing the degree of depigmentation.
The landscape of vitiligo in Latin America: a call to action
Published in Journal of Dermatological Treatment, 2023
Angela Londoño-Garcia, Andrea Arango Salgado, María de la Luz Orozco-Covarrubias, Angela Marie Jansen, Mariana Rico-Restrepo, María Cecilia Riviti, Margarita María Velásquez-Lopera, Carla Castro
Monobenzone is one of the only FDA-approved vitiligo treatment currently available globally, but it removes the remaining pigment to even skin color, which is not the desired effect for most patients, and its availability in LA is minimal (44,45). Recently, ruxolitinib was approved by the FDA as a depigmenting treatment for non-segmental vitiligo (46).