Background: The pathogenesis of psoriatic plaque lesions is related to the overexpression of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). We investigated changes in circulating and skin CGRP content, and their impacts on T lymphocyte infiltration and acitretin therapy in psoriasis vulgaris. Methods: CGRP expression was examined through immunohistochemistry of skin biopsies, and its serum levels were...

Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) constitutes a malignant proliferative disease involving mostly CD4(+) T cells arising in the skin. Because of the lack of curative treatment options, interferons (IFN) have been introduced into the therapy of CTCL. Although effective even in advanced disease, response rates were about 50% and the duration of response was short. To improve the results of interfer...

Acitretin is a photosensitive oral retinoid with very limited data available on its degradation. The official HPLC method for acitretin determination was insufficient to resolve the degradation products generated during stability studies. Therefore, an isocratic RP-HPLC-UV method was developed for the determination of acitretin in the presence of its related impurities and degradation products....

The aim of the present prospective study was to substantiate possible side effects of short-term oral acitretin therapy (1 mg/kg/day) on peripheral nerve function of 13 patients with severe keratinization disorders. Clinical neurological examination before and 1 and 3 months after onset of treatment was unremarkable in all patients; however, a significant alteration of one or more neurophysiolo...

BACKGROUND Few clinical trials have evaluated the efficacy and safety of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TwHF) compared with acitretin in psoriasis. We aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of TwHF compared with acitretin in the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis vulgaris. METHODS Adults with Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) score ≥ 10 and psoriasis-affected body surface area ≥ 1...

Phototherapy, classic systemic treatments (methotrexate, acitretin, and ciclosporin), and biologic agents (etanercept, infliximab, adalimumab, and ustekinumab) constitute a broad therapeutic arsenal that increases the likelihood of achieving control of severe and extensive disease in patients with psoriasis. Acitretin continues to be a very valuable tool in both monotherapy, in which it is comb...

Abstract Acitretin is a systemic retinoid that used in dermatology for treatment of various inflammatory and especially hyperkeratotic diseases. Elevation liver enzymes may occur occasionally but normally resolves spontaneously, at the latest after termination acitretin. However, it can very rarely develop into life-threatening adverse event including drug-induced injury (DILI). A 45-year-old m...

OBJECTIVE In practice, lower dose acitretin therapy (25 mg/d) seems to be better tolerated and associated with fewer abnormalities found after laboratory testing. Here we revisit the original phase 3 trials for acitretin to evaluate the evidence for low-dose therapy producing fewer adverse effects than the 50 mg/d dosage. DESIGN We retrospectively analyzed pooled data from 2 large pivotal tri...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of acitretin in patients with isolated nail psoriasis. DESIGN Open study involving 36 patients with moderate to severe nail psoriasis treated with acitretin. SETTING University-based outpatient dermatology clinic specializing in nail diseases. PATIENTS A total of 27 men and 9 women (mean age, 41 years) with nail psoriasis. INTERVENTION Ther...