Swati Fulmali1, S. Thurka1, Rafia Sultana1*, P. Padmaja2
1Department of Pharmacology, Osmania Medical College, Koti, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
2Department of Dermatology, Professor, Osmania General Hospital, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
*Address for Corresponding Author
Dr. Rafia Sultana
Professor
Department of Pharmacology, Osmania Medical College, Koti, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Abstract
Objective: This study was aims to compare clinical efficacy and safety in two groups of plaque psoriasis patients at baseline and after 12 weeks of treatment using two drug combination of topical calcipotriol/betamethasone with topical calcipotriol. Methods: A prospective, comparative study was conducted at Department of Dermatology, OGH on patients (n=70) diagnosed with plaque type psoriasis. Patients were randomised in two groups, Group A receiving combination of calcipotriol and betamethasone ointment while group B receiving single drug calcipotriol, daily once application for 12 weeks. The efficacy of two groups was evaluated using PASI (psoriasis area and severity scale) at baseline and end of 12 weeks. Results: At the end of the study we observed intra group data comparison showed PASI score decreased significantly (p <0.001) at 15th, 30th, 45th, 60th, 75th and 90th day of treatment in comparison with baseline in both groups Inter group comparison shows PASI score decreased more in Group A than Group B and the difference became strongly significant at 30th day of treatment (12.36±2.91 vs. 10.49±2.89; p=0.009). The difference between the two groups increased further at 45th, 60th, 75th and 90th day of treatment with p<0.001 for all visits. Conclusion: The study emphasised that using a combination of Vitamin D3 analogue with topical steroid combination provided better efficacy, quick response in alleviating the symptoms, patient compliance and safety as opposed to monotherapy.
Keywords: Calcipotriol, betamethasone, ointment, psoriasis, plaque