TUESDAY, March 17 (HealthDay News) -- Acitretin, a medication historically prescribed for skin psoriasis, is comparable to the biologic drugs adalimumab and infliximab in clearing up nail psoriasis, according to the results of a clinical trial reported in the March issue of the Archives of Dermatology.

Antonella Tosti, M.D., of the University of Bologna in Italy, and colleagues conducted a trial in which 27 men and nine women (mean age, 41 years) who had nail psoriasis were treated with the systemic medication acitretin at a dosage of 0.2 to 0.3 mg/kg/day for six months. Disease severity was evaluated before and after treatment using Nail Psoriasis Severity Index (NAPSI) and modified NAPSI scores.

After six months, clinical evaluation showed complete or nearly complete clearing of the condition in nine patients, while nine patients had moderate improvement, 12 had mild improvement and six had no improvement. None of the patients had to stop treatment due to adverse effects, the authors note. The NAPSI score reductions were slightly less than, but comparable to, the best results reported in studies of the biologic drugs adalimumab and infliximab, the researchers report.

"Although more studies are required to thoroughly assess the effectiveness in larger controlled subject populations, our observations suggest that low-dose systemic acitretin should be considered in the therapeutic armamentarium in the treatment of nail psoriasis," Tosti and colleagues conclude.

One of the investigators reported being paid for speaking engagements by pharmaceutical companies including Abbott Laboratories, the maker of adalimumab.

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