A DISCUSSION OF THE THERAPEUTIC BENEFIT OF THE MEDICINAL PLANTS USED FOR THE TRADITIONAL TREATMENT OF VITILIGO IN MOROCCO

Vitiligo is a common skin depigmentation disorder with a heavy psychological impact on the patients. The success rates of the current therapies are variable and often frustrating, leading a large proportion of patients to self-medicate with herbal treatments. Morocco, being one of the countries with a long tradition in the use of medicinal plants, is no exception to this rule. We identified through a search in the ethnobotanical studies carried out in Morocco a list of 10 plants used in the traditional treatment of Vitiligo: Ammi majus, Anacyclus pyrethrum, Asphodelus ramosus, Curcuma longa, Ficus carica, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Nigella sativa, Plumbago europea, Ruta montana, and Scrophularia canina. The literature study that we performed subsequently showed that these species are either photosensitizer plants often leading to acute dermic phototoxicity, or plants acting through various properties (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, or wound healing) and which have never been clinically shown to cure vitiligo. Therefore, we conclude that for photosensitizing plants, the therapeutic benefit is low with a high risk of toxicity which is aggravated by the lack of knowledge of herbalists and traditional healers about the physiopathology of vitiligo. For the other plants, more research is needed to establish clinical evidence of their actions against vitiligo.