Effects on melanin particle-containing hair follicles and
epidermal cells in vitiligo mice
Melanogenesis occurs in melanosomes, which are then transported to basal
layer cells and hair follicles together with melanin. The amount of
melanin in the normal skin is constant. Melanin is silver-compatible and
argyrophilic. It can absorb ferrous ions, Lillie staining can show veins
in a deep blue colour. Therefore, this staining method was selected to
determine the number of epidermal cells containing melanin particles in
each group under a light microscope. The average number of
melanin-containing cells was calculated in every 100 basal cells and in
every 50 hair follicles. The number of melanin-containing hair follicles
in the back skin of the model group and the number of melanocytes in the
basal layer were significantly decreased compared with that in the
control group (Fig. 5a). The number of melanin-containing hair follicles
in the skin and the number of basal cells were significantly increased
(Fig. 5b), indicating that the compound induced a certain
colour-reducing effect on the HQ-induced vitiligo mouse model, even at
low doses.