A systematic approach of efficacy and safety of herbal medicine in the treatment of Vitiligo

Somanaboina Padmakar, Tambe Daniel Atem, Sweta Kumari, Ruby Singh, Vaibhav Chaudhary, Biplab Pal*

Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Punjab, India

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Somanaboina Padmakar, Tambe Daniel Atem, Sweta Kumari, Ruby Singh, Vaibhav Chaudhary, Biplab Pal, 2024. A systematic review of efficacy and safety of herbal medicine in the treatment of Vitiligo. Journal of medical pharmaceutical and allied sciences, V 13 - I 5, Pages - 6717 – 6725. Doi: https://doi.org/10.55522/jmpas.V13I5.6697.

ABSTRACT

Vitiligo is a chronic dermatological disorder caused by the loss of melanin. Conventional therapies for vitiligo require prolonged treatments, have low efficacy, and are complicated by side effects. This study aimed to review the role of herbal medicine in the treatment of vitiligo. A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar for studies conducted till December 2023 using related keywords linked with Boolean operators such as AND, OR, and NOT. Subsequently, a more comprehensive search was performed using the name of each specific herb. A variety of herbs were used to treat vitiligo. The most widely used herbal therapies among vitiligo populations were Khellin, Ginkgo biloba L., Picrorhiza kurroa, Polypodium leucotomos, Cucumis melo, Psoralea corylifolia L., Turmeric, Curcumin, and Nigella sativa L. were used either alone or in combination with other therapies. The majority of herbs were found to be efficacious with negligible side effects. No severe toxicities were reported. Most herbal medicines showed a positive impact on vitiligo. Therefore, healthcare providers may consider herbal medicine as an option for patient’s refractory to conventional therapies.

Keywords:

Vitiligo, Herbal Medicine, Conventional Therapy, Literature Review, Efficacy, Safety.

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