In people suffering from vitiligo, the use of gliadin-protected superoxide dismutase (GP-SOD)  combined with narrowband ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) was found to be a valuable add-on with excellent tolerability and safety.

A prospective, 24-week, randomized, interventional, double-blind, monocentric, placebo-controlled study was conducted to determine the efficacy of GP-SOD associated with NB-UVB to treat non-segmental vitiligo.

The study incorporated 50 patients with vitiligo affecting >5% of the total body surface. Participants were given GP-SOD (1g per day for 12 weeks followed by 0.5g per day for 12 weeks, n=25) or placebo (n=25) in combo with twice-weekly sessions of phototherapy. The major outcome ascertained was total repigmentation rate at 24 weeks, in comparison with baseline, as evaluated by Vitiligo Extent Score (VES) on the standardized pictures.

Following 24 weeks, a higher improvement in VES was witnessed in the GP-SOD arm when compared with the placebo arm, as illustrated in Table 1:

In both groups, there was good tolerance and no side effects.

The combination of GP-SOD and NB-UVB therapy is effective for managing vitiligo patients.