Efficacy and Safety of Topical Calcipotriol 0.005% Versus Topical Clobetasol 0.05% in the Management of Alopecia Areata: An Intrasubject Pilot Study

INTRODUCTION: Alopecia areata (AA) is a chronic inflammatory non-scarring type of hair loss. Current therapies for alopecia areata are rather limited and mainly involve the use of topical, intra-lesional or systemic steroids and topical immunotherapy, with variable benefit. Recent studies have demonstrated that vitamin D analogues could potentially promote hair growth in patients with patchy AA. METHODS: We investigated the efficacy and safety of treatment with calcipotriol, a synthetic derivative of vitamin D (calcipotriol 0.005% ointment), versus treatment with the corticosteroid clobetasol (topical clobetasol 0.05% formulation), in a series of 35 patients with scalp AA, using an intrasubject design. RESULTS: Patches treated with calcipotriol ointment showed greater and faster response rates than did those treated with topical clobetasol, although the differences were not statistically significant. The main strength of the study is its prospective design; the main limitation is the small number of participants. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with the calcipotriol would appear to be reasonably effective in patients with mild to moderate patchy AA and was associated with only limited and reversible side effects.