Conditions: Plaque Psoriasis Psoriasis Vulgaris
Keywords: Psoriasis Plaque psoriasis, with bilateral symmetrical lesions. A diagnosis of stable plaque-type psoriasis vulgaris with at least one pair of symmetric lesions on either the trunk, arms, or legs that would serve as target lesions.
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Enrollment: 35
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The purpose of this study is to determine whether using Taclonex ointment under a hydrogel patch is more effective than using the ointment alone in treating psoriasis. Taclonex ointment is currently FDA approved for use on psoriasis. The hydrogel patch is a type of adhesive pad and contains no medications. It is currently FDA approved and has been shown to be safe and virtually free of side effects. The hypothesis is that psoriatic plaques which are treated with Taclonex ointment under a hydrogel patch will be more effectively treated compared to psoriatic plaques treated with Taclonex alone.

Detailed description:
This will be an open label, bilaterally-controlled single center study. Thirty subjects with plaque type psoriasis will be enrolled in the study. All subjects will receive treatment on two target lesions that are similar in erythema, scaling and induration, and symmetric in anatomic location. The severity of their target lesions will be assessed using a modified Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scoring system (Appendix A). Symmetrical target lesions must each be rated at a PASI score equal to or greater than 7 and be within 1 PASI score of each other.

All subjects will apply Taclonex ointment to both target lesions once daily for 4 weeks. The occlusive dressing will be applied by the subject to one of the two symmetrical target lesions once daily for 4 weeks. The occlusive dressing will be removed by the patient if he/she experiences warmth, irritation, increased erythema, and/or itching. If the patch is removed due to these symptoms and signs, the subject will leave the lesion un-occluded until for 24 hours, at which time a new occlusive dressing will be placed.

After the initial 4 weeks of treatment, there will be a follow up period of 6 weeks during which no treatment is used.

Subjects will be restricted from using systemic therapies for psoriasis during this study, including Psoralen Ultraviolet A (PUVA) photochemotherapy and herbal therapies. All topical medications, except the study medications, and UVB phototherapy are prohibited on the target lesions. All of the other psoriasis lesions on the body can be treated as usual with other topical medications and Ultraviolet B (UVB) phototherapy as long as it does not impact on the two target lesions.

Arms:
arm 1: Taclonex ointment once daily used to treat one psoriatic plaque, along with the Hydrogel Patch used once daily. arm 2: None

Interventions: intervention 1: Taclonex Ointment and Hydrogel Patch intervention 2: Taclonex Ointment
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Each patient will have bilateral symmetrical psoriatic plaques. One plaque will be treated with Taclonex Ointment daily along with Hydrogel Patch daily. All treatment will be for 4 weeks. intervention 2: Taclonex ointment daily for one psoriatic plaque.

Protocol document: