[Effect of acitretin and methotrexate on treatment of  severe plaque psoriasis].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate effects of acitretin and methotrexate on treatment of severe plaque psoriasis.


METHODS
A total of 54 patients were treated with either acitretin (32 patients; 30 mg per day) or methotrexate (22 patients; 15 mg per week) for 8 weeks. The therapeutic effects of the two drugs were evaluated according to the psoriasis area and severity index (PASI).


RESULTS
After 8 weeks of treatment, the score of PASI decreased in both the acitretin group and the methotrexate group (P<0.001). However, there was no significant differences neither in the percentage reduction in the PASI score nor in PASI response rate between the two groups (P>0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Acitretin and methotrexate exert similar therapeutic effect in severe plaque psoriasis.
Department of Dermatology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, China.
Panpan
P
Liu
Department of Dermatology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, China.
Yehong
Y
Kuang
Department of Dermatology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, China.
Jianglin
J
Zhang
Department of Dermatology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, China.
Jie
J
Li
Department of Dermatology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, China.
Juan
J
Su
Department of Dermatology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, China.
Xiang
X
Chen
Department of Dermatology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, China.
Wu
W
Zhu
D017255:Acitretin; D006801:Humans; D008727:Methotrexate; D011565:Psoriasis
D017255:Acitretin; D008727:Methotrexate