Role of anti-depressant fluoxetine in the puva treatment of psoriasis vulgaris.

Severity of psoriasis vulgaris is known to be modified by psychological stress. The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of fluoxetine in the PU VA treatment of psoriasis. Twenty patients with progressive disease having more than thirty per cent body area involvement were included in a randomized, double blinded, placebo- controlled, age and sex matched study. All patients were on PUVA treatment, half of patients were given fluoxetine 20 mgs daily whereas the ten were given placebo. Assessment was done by Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scoring after every 5 exposures of PUVA treatment till 20 treatments. All ten patients who took fluoxetine along with PUVA treatment showed better response and quicker remission. Fluoxetine may be used as an adjuvant in PUVA treatment of psoriasis.