NCT01559584

Phototoxic Doses of Ultraviolet A for Treatment of Alopecia Areata

A Clinical and Immunological Study of Phototoxic Doses of Ultraviolet A for Treatment of Alopecia Areata: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 40 (actual)
• Sponsor: Cairo University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 12 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Alopecia areata (AA) is a disease of the hair follicles with multifactorial etiology and a strong component of autoimmune origin. It is characterized by non-scarring hair loss on the scalp or any hair-bearing surface. Various therapeutic agents have been described for the treatment of AA, but none are curative or preventive. The aim of AA treatment is to suppress the activity of the disease. Phototherapy in the form of topical psoralen and ultraviolet A (PUVA) has been a well documented therapy for AA since 1978. A more recent technique of topical PUVA, namely phototoxic PUVA, has been adopted in two previous studies. Sessions were carried out once every 3 months, and a higher efficacy with more encouraging response rates in comparison to the conventional PUVA therapy has been documented. This assumed upper hand over the conventional PUVA might be due to increasing the amount of UV reaching the hair follicle cells and the surrounding inflammatory cells. Also it has been suggested that it might play a role as a powerful initiating agent of suppression through direct action at the DNA level. However, still the exact effect of this treatment has not been fully clarified.

Conditions

• Alopecia Areata

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
RADIATION	ultraviolet A (UVA)	0.5% solution of 8-methoxypsoralen (MOP) will be applied 20 minutes before UVA exposure (315-400nm). UVA sessions will be carried out twice weekly aiming to achieve a phototoxic reaction, in the form of erythema and vesiculation. Once a phototoxic reaction will be achieved, the patient will be asked to rest until the reaction subsides and then resume the phototherapy sessions.
DRUG	Triamcinolone Acetonide	One monthly injections of intralesional triamcinolone acetonide

Timeline

• Start date: 2012-03-01
• Primary completion: 2014-03-01
• Completion: 2014-03-01
• First posted: 2012-03-21
• Last updated: 2014-04-08

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Egypt