Serum neopterin level in psoriatic patients treated with acitretin or narrowband ultraviolet B or both

Abstract

Background A biological indicator of cellular immunity is neopterin. In certain studies, psoriasis patients had higher serum, and urine neopterin levels, which were reduced following therapy. Aims To evaluate the effect of acitretin versus narrowband ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) and combinations of them on psoriasis vulgaris and correlate it with neopterin level Patients and methods In this case-control research, a total of 120 respondents (30 healthy volunteers) served as the control group, in addition to 90 psoriasis patients randomly allocated into three equal groups: group (I): 30 patients received Acitretin for 3 months. Group (II): 30 patients were treated with NB-UVB. Group (III): 30 patients received Acitretin and NB-UVB (3 sessions/week) for 3 months. Serum neopterin levels were measured pre- and post-treatment. All patients were clinically and photographically evaluated using the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score. The study was registered at clinicaltrial.com. Approval numbers: NCT05401006 and date of registration: 1/6/2022. Results In this study, statistically significant higher serum neopterin levels have been found in psoriatic patients than healthy controls. We found a significant decrease in PASI scores in all groups. The relative reduction percentage in the PASI score was substantially different between groups ( P <0.001). The highest decrease percentage in PASI score was reported in group III compared with group II (NB-UVB) and group I (Acitretin group), ( P <0.001). The median s. neopterin levels after treatment varied substantially among the three groups ( P <0.001). Conclusion When compared with healthy controls, serum neopterin levels in psoriatic patients were substantially greater ( P <0.05).