An open study of vitamin D3 treatment in psoriasis vulgaris

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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.