Effectiveness of topical calcipotriol (0.005%) ointment with or without narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy in patients with alopecia areata: a randomized evaluator-blinded placebo-controlled trial

Background Alopecia areata (AA) is a chronic inflammatory disease, and autoimmunity is widely accepted as the pathogenesis of the same. Vitamin D deficit at receptor level has been noticed in patients with AA recently. Potential of topical vitamin D as a treatment option for AA may be evaluated in clinical trials. Objective To compare effectiveness and safety of topical calcipotriol (0.005%) with or without narrowband ultraviolet B (NBUVB) (311 nm) phototherapy with placebo in patients with AA. Patients and methods The patients with AA having any Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) score were randomized into three treatment arms: group A patients (24 patients) received topical calcipotriol (0.005%) ointment daily, group B patients (24 patients) received topical calcipotriol (0.005%) ointment daily and NBUVB twice weekly, and group C patients (12 patients) received placebo for 12 weeks. Percentage of improvement in SALT score, changes in total hair count, and patient satisfaction grading was compared at 6- and 12-week duration among the study groups. Results On an average, improvements of 52.8, 69.6, and 3.9% in SALT scores were noted in groups A, B, and C patients, respectively (P
Source: Journal of the Egyptian Women’s Dermatologic Society - Category: Dermatology Tags: Original articles Source Type: research