Chinese Medicine for Patients With Psoriasis

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Trial end date: 2024-08-31
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disease with huge negative impact on the quality of life of the patients, and has an overall prevalence of 2% to 3% in the general population. Plaques psoriasis is the most common type of the disease and presents red, well demarcated, and silvery plaques mainly localized in the umbilical and lumbosacral area as well as in the elbows, knees, and scalp.

Currently, pharmacological treatments such as retinoids, corticosteroids, vitamin D analogs and biologics remain the main options for most psoriasis patients. However, side effect and high cost barred many ordinary psoriasis patients.

A Chinese medicine formula "Inflammatory skin disease formula (ISDF)" was prescribed by Prof. Lin for many years and observed to be effective in relieving atopic dermatitis and psoriasis patients' clinical manifestations.

In this study, subjects with psoriasis will be randomized into treatment group of "ISDF" or placebo group for 12 weeks.

• Phase: Phase 2
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Chinese University of Hong Kong

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Mild to moderate chronic plaque psoriasis (PASI score 1 to 2).

• Willingness to give informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pustular or generalized erythrodermic psoriasis.

• Psoriatic arthritis with syndrome of spleen-kidney yang deficiency according to Chinese medicine theory.

• Systemic therapy for psoriasis within 30 days of baseline.

• Use topical medications for psoriasis within 14 days of baseline such as retinoids, corticosteroids, vitamin D analogues, tazarotene and tacrolimus.

• Has taken any antibiotics, probiotics and prebiotics 30 days prior to baseline.

• UV light therapy within 30 days of baseline.

• Clinically significant laboratory abnormality in blood, liver or renal functions (≥1.5 times the upper limit of reference range).

• History of sensitive to Chinese herbs.

• Unwillingness to comply with study protocol.

• Any other condition that in the opinion of the investigators could compromise the study.