Understanding The Symptoms Of Vitiligo

Loss Of Color In The Retina

Eye choroid is a term used to describe a structure in an individual's eye that is abundantly vascularized. This structure provides the outer part of an individual's retina with blood flow. The eye choroid contains a choriocapillaris layer that borders the Bruch's membrane, Haller's layer, Sattler's layer, retinal pigment epithelium, and suprachoroidal layer. Patches of melanocytes and all of these layers that make up the choroid sit within an elastic and collagenous stroma. Melanocytes in the choroid are responsible for producing melanin to protect an individual's eye from the intraocular light reflections. The color that displays in an individual's iris is produced by the melanin in the uveal tract of their eye. Vitiligo in an individual can destroy pigment cells or melanocytes located in an individual's ciliary body, choroid, meninges, retinal pigment epithelium, and iris. When the melanocytes are destroyed in these parts of an individual's eye, they can experience a loss of color in their retina.

Color Loss In Mucous Membranes

A mucous membrane, which is comprised of ectodermal tissues, is the cell layer that covers the interior of multiple body organs and orifices. Mucous membranes can secrete or contain a substance referred to as mucus, a thick fluid that protects the tissues on the inside of an individual's body from foreign pathogens, dirt, and other harmful substances. There are numerous different mucous membranes in an individual's body, including those in the digestive system, respiratory system, and reproductive system. Melanocytes populate the tissues that make up an individual's mucous membranes the same way they populate the tissues that make up their skin. Therefore, the same mechanism that causes depigmentation in the skin tissues can also cause depigmentation in the vitiligo patient's mucous membranes.