Em. Procaccini et al., INEFFECTIVENESS OF TOPICAL KHELLIN IN PHOTOCHEMOTHERAPY OF VITILIGO, Journal of dermatological treatment, 6(2), 1995, pp. 117-120
This study was carried out in order to determine whether topically app
lied khellin followed by UVA exposure is effective for vitiligo treatm
ent. A group of 40 patients with symmetrical vitiligo patches, applied
5% khellin cream or 3% khellin in 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (PYR) to o
ne side of the body and the vehicle only as placebo to the other side
before each session of irradiation. A second group of 32 patients with
asymmetrical vitiligo patches applied the vehicle only, an o/w cream
or PYR before each session of irradiation. The irradiations were perfo
rmed every other day. Repigmentation, estimated both clinically and ph
otographically, was similar on vitiligo patches treated with khellin a
nd on those treated only with the vehicle. The mean total dose able to
induce initial follicular repigmentation was 550 J/cm(2) (range 100-9
50 J/cm(2)), administered over 3 months (range 1-5 months). In conclus
ion, topical application of khellin did not induce repigmenttion of vi
tiligo patches, whose response to therapy seems to be due to UVA irrad
iation alone.