Parenteral vs. Oral Folic Acid Antagonists

Megaloblastic anaemia during methotrexate treatment of psoriasis.

“…However, when a much larger dose is given intravenously or intramuscularly toxic levels are reached more slowly (Berlin et al, 1963). Furthermore, the effects on psoriasis of weekly or fortnightly injections are equal to or even better than those attained by the oral route (Van Scott et al, 1964;Auerbach, 1964). Though injection therapy, even if necessary only once or twice a fortnight, is less pleasant for the patient than oral therapy, it clearly has a place in treatment and would probably be the method of choice in the present case.…”

Parenteral Methotrexate in Psoriasis

“…XJ RUGS that interfere with the biosyn¬ thesis of nucleic acids have been used to treat a wide variety of benign and malig¬ nant diseases, particularly those disorders that are characterized by altered immunity and rapid cellular replication. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] The clini¬ cal studies of Rees et al7 VanScott et al, 8 Auberbach,9 and Turner and Calabresi,10 demonstrated that antimetabolites are of value in the treatment of psoriasis, a benign though often disabling skin disease that is characterized by rapid cellular replication.…”

Experiences with Methotrexate in Psoriasis

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The effectiveness of oral and parenteral m ethotrexate in the treat m ent of psoriasis is now well documented [1,4,12,16]. There remain at present, m any unanswered questions such as the most effective schedules, dosage, toxicities, relapse rate, mode of action of m etho trexate, and effect on the progeny of patients treated with m etho trexate.

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