Topical diphencyprone for Kaposi sarcoma

Use of Contact Immunotherapy in the Treatment of Skin Diseases Other than Alopecia Areata

For decades, contact immunotherapy with dinitrochlorobenzene, diphencyprone, and squaric acid dibutylester has played an important role in both clinical practice and scientific research. It is listed as the first-line treatment for extensive alopecia areata and was more recently approved for melanoma treatment as an orphan drug in the USA. Moreover, owing to the relative low cost and safety, topical immunotherapy has also been used in many infectious, neoplastic, and inflammatory dermatological diseases. It is especially valuable in vulnerable groups, for cosmetic/pain sensitive areas, or for multiple lesions. In this review, we summarize the current evidence supporting the use of contact immunotherapy for treatment of skin diseases, from articles collected from PubMed database. Owing to space limitation and already numerous studies focusing on alopecia areata, we include only skin diseases other than alopecia areata. In addition to diseases that have been reported to be treated by contact immunotherapy, the hypothesized mechanism, prognosis prediction, efficacy, and safety of these topical agents are discussed.

Immunomodulatory effects of topical diphencyprone for the treatment of acute urban cutaneous leishmaniasis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Efficacious and safe treatments are lacking for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). This study investigates the efficacy of adding diphencyprone immunotherapy to conventional meglumine antimoniate (MA) treatment for acute urban CL.

METHODS

This randomized controlled pilot study included 46 patients with acute CL. They were randomly allocated to receive either combination of diphencyprone immunotherapy with intralesional MA (intervention; N = 23) or intralesional MA alone (control; N = 23) weekly. The size and duration of lesions were measured at the baseline and after that at 4th, 8th, 12th, and 24th weeks. Data were analyzed in SPSS and p < .05 was considered significant.

RESULTS

The groups showed no significant difference in duration of lesions, but number of injections was significantly higher in the control group compared with the intervention group (p < .001). Size and induration of lesions was significantly reduced in both groups during the course of study (p < .001). The intervention group showed significantly lower induration of lesions in 4th, 8th, and 12th week compared with controls (p < .05).

CONCLUSION

Combination of diphencyprone with MA resulted in earlier resolution of acute CL lesions with a relatively acceptable rate of adverse effects, compared with intralesional MA alone.