Vitiligo is described as an autoimmune disease: a condition in which your immune system attacks your healthy body cells by mistake. Several studies have suggested vitiligo is commonly associated with other autoimmune diseases.

Most common autoimmune diseases include:

Studies were conducted to identify factors that could correlate vitiligo with other autoimmune diseases. Epidemiological evidence indicates that vitiligo is a complex trait involving multiple genes shared also with other autoimmune diseases ¹.

Between different autoimmune disorders, particular attention was paid to dysthyroidism. A higher prevalence of autoimmune thyroid pathologies was observed among patients with vitiligo compared to the general population and from a temporal perspective, usually, vitiligo precedes the onset of thyroid dysfunction^2,3,4. 

Vitiligo should be considered a disease with which other autoimmune pathologies may be associated. This consideration should form the basis of wide clinical evaluation, considering that vitiligo involves skin which is highly accessible for analysis. Early diagnosis of vitiligo should then guide screening to detect the onset of other diseases as early as possible. 

References:

[1] Spritz RA: The genetics of generalized vitiligo: autoimmune pathways and an inverse relationship with malignant melanoma. Genome Medicine 2010, 2:78

[2] Autoimmune thyroid disease in vitiligo: multivariate analysis indicates intricate pathomechanisms A. Gey,1 A. Diallo,1 J. Seneschal,1,2 C. Le´aute´-Labre`ze,1 F. Boralevi,1 T. Jouary,1 A. Taieb1,2 and K. Ezzedine1,2 1 Department of Dermatology and Pediatric Dermatology, National Centre for Rare Skin Disorders, Hoˆpital Pellegrin, place Ame´lie Raba-Le´on, 33076, Bordeaux, France 2 University of Bordeaux and Inserm U1035, University of Bordeaux, 146 rue Le´o Saigant, 33076, Bordeaux, France

[3] Yuan J, Sun C, Jiang S, Lu Y, Zhang Y, Gao X-H, Wu Y and Chen H-D (2019)

The Prevalence of Thyroid Disorders in Patients With Vitiligo: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Front. Endocrinol. 9:803. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2018.00803