Comparative study of efficacy and safety of topical squaric acid dibutylester and diphenylcyclopropenone for the treatment of alopecia areata

Abstract

Background:Topical squaric acid dibutylester and diphenylcyclopropenone are still the most effective therapy for alopecia areata among widely available treatment options. Hence, it is important to know which one is more effective and safer between the two.Aims:The aim of this study was to compare topical squaric acid dibutylester and diphenylcyclopropenone for the treatment of alopecia areata in terms of their efficacy and side effects.Subjects and Methods:In the time period of January–March 2015, a total of 40 patients were selected for this study from the outpatient department of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi. After dropout of 16 patients, the remaining 24 patients were randomly divided into two groups; that is, group A for squaric acid dibutylester and group B for diphenylcyclopropenone. Each group received treatment for 6 months between March–November 2015. Their efficacy and side effects were compared.Statistical Test:Unpaired student t-test was performed. P < 0.05 was considered to be significant and 95% confidence interval was also used to evaluate the efficacy.Results:The mean values of percentage change in baseline severity of alopecia tool score for squaric acid dibutylester and diphenylcyclopropenone were 52.25 and 34.45, respectively. At 6 months, 95% confidence interval was 43.5–61% for group A and 25–44% for group B. In 58.33% of group A patients, A3 (50–74%) grade of improvement was observed, whereas in group B patients, it was 33.33%. A4 grade of improvement (75–99%) was also seen in 1 patient of group A. Minor side effects were seen in 2 patients of group A and 10 patients of group B. None of the group A patients showed major side effects, however, 2 patients suffered major side effects in group B.Conclusions:Between squaric acid dibutylester and diphenylcyclopropenone, squaric acid dibutylester is more efficacious. Further, frequencies of major and minor side effects are also lower than diphenylcyclopropenone.

Treatment of chronic extensive alopecia areata by diphenylcyclopropenone alone versus in combination with anthralin

“…Many prognostic factors for DPCP treatment outcome have been described. They include the type of AA, the extent of alopecia, age at disease onset, age at DPCP onset, duration of AA before initiation of DPCP therapy, family history of AA, and presence of atopic dermatitis (Tiwary et al, ). In this study, we found the extent of hair loss before DPCP treatment to be the most prognostic factor for clinical outcome.…”

“…Owing to an autoimmune basis of AA, several types of treatment modalities have been tried in different studies but none of them have been found to be a definitive and curative treatment (Tiwary et al, 2016), and results until now are not satisfactory for many dermatologists (Wasylyszyn & Borowska, 2017).…”

Tratamiento de la alopecia areata, un recorrido desde las opciones terapéuticas clásicas hasta los nuevos fármacos aparecidos en los últimos años

“…Se ha propuesto también su uso de forma prolongada, con pautas menos agresivas y menor frecuencia de aplicación, ya que en algunos estudios se ha descrito respuesta mantenida y menor índice de recaídas con esta forma de empleo [33]. El perfil de eficacia y recaídas es similar para las dos opciones de inmunoterapia, aunque Tiwary y colaboradores concluyen que el SABDE es más eficaz y con menos efectos secundarios [34]. De los estudios realizados en formas totales/universales, el de Ohlmeier y colaboradores reporta los mejores resultados, con repoblación superior al 90% en más del 70% de los Dermatology Online Journal || Review pacientes.…”

Development and validation of a liquid chromatographic method for the analysis of squaric acid dibutyl ester and its impurities

“…Recent studies showed that warts in children caused by the human papilloma virus could be treated safely by topical application of squaric acid dibutyl ester (SADBE). In addition, SADBE is also successfully used as topical immunomodulator for the treatment of alopecia [5].…”