Topical calcipotriol vs narrowband ultraviolet B in treatment of alopecia areata: a randomized-controlled trial
June 2019
in “Archives of Dermatological Research”
TLDR Both topical calcipotriol and narrowband UVB improved alopecia, but combining them didn't enhance the effect on hair loss severity, despite higher vitamin D3 levels.
In a study of 60 patients with scalp alopecia areata (AA), topical calcipotriol and narrowband ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) phototherapy were both found to be effective treatments after 3 months, improving Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) scores and increasing serum vitamin D3 levels. The combination of both treatments did not show superior clinical improvement in SALT scores over individual therapies, although it did result in higher serum vitamin D3 levels. The study also observed a non-significant negative correlation between serum vitamin D3 levels and SALT scores, indicating that while vitamin D3 levels increased with clinical improvement, the correlation with AA severity was not statistically significant, potentially due to the small sample size.
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