Benefit of adding metformin to topical corticosteroids in the treatment of mild to moderate psoriasis: a comparative study

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of metformin in the treatment of mild to moderate psoriasis.

Research methods: Randomly divided into two groups, forty patients met the entry criteria for the  study . Each was treated as follow:

The first group: was treated with betamethasone topical cream for a month via this method: First two weeks: twice daily , Third week: once daily , Fourth week: every two days.

The second group: was treated with topical betamethasone cream similary to  first group via this method: First two weeks: twice daily, Third week: once daily, Fourth week: every two days.

In addition; they were prescribed metformin 500 mg twice daily for three months (ceased later).

Two patients withdrew from each group, so the study was conducted on 36 patients' data. Patients were followed every two weeks during the treatment period. During each review, response to treatment was evaluated using the Psoriasis Evaluation Indicators (PASI - BSA - DLQI) and drug side effects were monitored.   Monitoring was also carried out for three months after stopping treatment to monitor relapse in the two groups.

Results: Metformin (At the given dose ) did not appear to be effective in treating mild to moderate psoriasis, and there was no significant statistical difference in the mean (PASI - BSA - DLQI) between the two treatment groups at the start and end of treatment, as there was a recurrence of 72.2% in the patients of the metformin group and 61.1% In topical group patients only and the (P-Value = 0683) was greater than the level of statistical significance (a = 0.05), and therefore there are no statistically significant differences between cases of relapse between the two study groups.

Conclusions: The additional use of metformin (at the given dose) is not beneficial in the treatment of mild to moderate psoriasis and the lack of this benefit may be due to the need for higher therapeutic doses, treatment for a longer period of time, or a higher frequency of administration due to its relatively short life.

Key words: psoriasis vulgaris, metformin, topical betamethasone cream.