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Tacalcitol Ointment Controls Chronic Plaque Psoriasis
A DGReview of :"Tacalcitol Ointment for Long-Term Control of Chronic Plaque Psoriasis in Dermatological Practice"
Dermatology
08/06/2002
By David Loshak
Tacalcitol ointment is safe and well-tolerated in the treatment of chronic plaque psoriasis affecting up to 20 percent of the body surface.
Previous studies have shown the benefit of topical vitamin D3 analogues for treating mild to moderate plaque psoriasis.
Researchers at the University of Antwerp, in Belgium, and at Medical Clinical Affairs, in Hermal, Reinbek, Germany, conducted their study to determine the agent's efficacy in chronic disease.
They enrolled 157 patients in an open-label, multi-centre, clinical phase IV study with a pre/post comparison design. They patients all had chronic plaque psoriasis which covered 7-20 (average 13.3) percent of the body. They were treated with tacalcitol ointment 4 µg/g once daily for six months.
At baseline and once monthly, efficacy parameter psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) as well as total body surface involvement and adverse events were recorded. Laboratory parameters were measured at the start and end of the study.
The mean efficacy parameter PASI score fell by 67 percent. There were marked reductions in sum scores of erythema, infiltration and desquamation.
The body area affected fell by 33.8 percent to 8.8 percent.
There were no changes in laboratory parameters, no case of hypercalcaemia or any serious adverse events. Local side effects were mainly transient and mild.
"Tacalcitol treatment can be recommended as effective therapy for long-term control of chronic plaque psoriasis in dermatological practice," the authors conclude.
Dermatology 2002;204(2):321-324.
"Tacalcitol Ointment for Long-Term Control of Chronic Plaque Psoriasis in Dermatological Practice"
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