An open study of vitamin D3 treatment in psoriasis vulgaris

Abstract

Active forms of vitamin D3, 1α‐hydroxyvitamin D3 and 1α, 25‐dihydroxyvitamin D3, were administered in an open‐design study to 40 patients with psoriasis vulgaris in three ways: (i)to 17 patients 1α, hydroxyvitamin D3 was given orally at a dose of 1.0μ/day for 6 months, (2) to four patients 1α, 25‐dihydroxyvitamin D3 was given orally at a dose of 0.5μ/day for 6 months, and (3)19 patients were given 1α, 25‐dihydroxyvitamin D3, was applied topically at a concentration of 0.5μ/g of base for 8 weeks. Improvement was observed at the end of the individual study periods in 13 (76%) patients in Group I with a mean period of treatment (±SD) of 2.7 ± 0.6 months, in one patient in Group 2 at 3 months after the start of treatment, and in 16 (84%) patients in Group 3 when the chemical was applied for 3.3 ± 1.2 weeks. No side‐effects were observed in any of these trials. These data suggest that psoriasis may respond to active metabolites of vitamin D3 and that abnormalities in vitamin D metabolism or in responsiveness of the skin cells to active metabolites of vitamin D may be involved in the pathogenesis of this skin disease.