Ginkgo and L-phenylalanine as Natural Vitiligo Treatment

A BMC Dermatology review of natural treatments for vitiligo, a skin disorder in which a loss of pigment-producing cells creates white patches on various parts of the body, found the extract of the herb Ginkgo biloba may return natural pigment to the skin in some people suffering from vitiligo.

The review examined 15 trials of natural health products used to treat vitiligo, including the amino acid L-phenylalanine, various herbs, vitamins, and traditional Chinese medicine.

• L-phenylalanine monotherapy was assessed in one trial, and as an adjuvant to phototherapy in three trials. All reported beneficial effects.
• Three clinical trials utilized different traditional Chinese medicine products. Although each traditional Chinese medicine trial reported benefit in the active groups, the quality of the trials was poor.
• Six trials investigated the use of plants in the treatment of vitiligo, four using plants as photosensitizing agents. The studies provided weak evidence that photosensitizing plants can be effective in conjunction with phototherapy, and moderate evidence that Ginkgo biloba monotherapy can be useful for vitiligo.
• Two clinical trials investigated the use of vitamins in the therapy of vitiligo. One tested oral cobalamin with folic acid, and found no significant improvement over control. Another trial combined vitamin E with phototherapy and reported significantly better repigmentation over phototherapy only. It was not possible to pool the data from any studies for meta-analytic purposes due to the wide difference in outcome measures and poor quality of reporting.

Ginkgo, in particular, shows promise due to its apparent efficacy without the need for phototherapy, eliminating the adverse events inherent with phototherapy make it a therapeutic option worth investigating; however, high-quality investigations into the use of NHPs in the treatment of vitiligo, particularly L-phenylalanine and Ginkgo biloba are needed. The author of the review concluded: "Reports investigating the efficacy of natural health products (NHP) for vitiligo exist, but are of poor methodological quality and contain significant reporting flaws. L-phenylalanine used with phototherapy, and oral Ginkgo biloba as monotherapy show promise and warrant further investigation."

Full Text: BMC Dermatology. "A systematic review of natural health product for vitiligo"

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