A left/right comparison of twice-daily calcipotriol ointment and calcitriol ointment in patients with psoriasis: the effect on keratinocyte subpopulations.

Vitamin D3 analogues are a first-line treatment of chronic plaque psoriasis, but so far, comparative clinical studies on calcipotriol and calcitriol ointment are sparse, and in particular no comparative studies are available on cell biological effects of these compounds in vivo. Using flow cytometric assessment, we investigated whether these compounds had different effects on the composition and DNA synthesis of epidermal cell populations responsible for the psoriatic phenotype. For 8 weeks, 20 patients with psoriasis vulgaris were treated twice daily with calcipotriol and calcitriol ointment in a left/right comparative study.