Treatment of psoriasis vulgaris by oral administration of 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3--open-design study.

In an open-design study 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 was administered orally to 17 patients with psoriasis vulgaris at a dose of 1.0 micrograms/day for 6 months. More than moderate improvement was observed in 13 (76%) of the 17 patients from 2.7 +/- 0.6 months (mean +/- SD) after the start of treatment. No side effects of the treatment were observed. The mechanism of the effect of 1 alpha-hydroxyvitamin D3 requires study, but these data suggest that its oral administration is effective for treatment of psoriasis vulgaris.