1-ALPHA,24-DIHYDROXYVITAMIN D-3 (TACALCITOL) IS EFFECTIVE AGAINST HAILEY-HAILEY-DISEASE BOTH IN-VIVO AND IN-VITRO

We report a case of Hailey-Hailey disease (HHD)in which 1 alpha,24-dih ydroxyvitamin D-3 (tacalcitol) was effective both clinically (in vivo) and in explant cultures (in vitro) of a skin lesion. The patient: was a 65-year-old man with HI-ID lesions in the axillary and inguinal are as bilaterally. We applied ointment containing 1 alpha,24-dihydroxyvit amin D-3 (tacalcitol), an analogue of active vitamin D-3, to the lesio ns and assessed its clinical effectiveness. The HHD lesions in both gr oins disappeared after treatment with the 1 alpha,24-dihydroxyvitamin D-3 ointment, and the remission has continued to the present. A punch biopsy specimen of the lesion that had remitted showed no acantholysis . In addition, dissociation of migrating keratinocytes was observed wh en biopsy specimens of the HHD skin lesion were cultured in medium wit hout 1 alpha,24-dihydroxyvitamin D-3, but inhibition of keratinocyte d issociation was observed in medium containing it. These results sugges t the effectiveness of 1 alpha,24-dihydroxyvitamin D-3 against HHD bot h in vivo and in vitro.