Treatment of psoriasis with a 311-nm UVB lamp

Abstract

In a left-right comparative study, the Philips TL-01 sunlamp, a new UVB fluorescent lamp, was evaluated in 15 patients with symmetrical psoriasis. One half of the body was treated in a cabin containing TL-01 lamps, and the other half in a cabin containing TL-12 lamps. The patients were treated three times/week, and the study was conducted in a randomized, double-blind fashion. The percentage response of psoriatic lesions was determined on the tenth and twentieth exposures. The therapeutic effect of the TL-01 lamps was superior to that of the TL-12 lamps, and treatment was better tolerated, particularly with regard to episodes of burning. This new lamp appears to provide more effective and safer phototherapy for psoriasis.

Narrowband UV-B Phototherapy vs Photochemotherapy in the Treatment of Chronic Plaque-Type Psoriasis

“…10,11 Several authors subsequently investigated the therapeutic effectiveness of narrowband UV-B by either comparing the treatment results for the new lamp with those from previous trials using broadband or by means of bilateral comparison studies. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19] These investigations confirmed the efficacy of narrowband UV-B treatment and showed that it provides for faster clearing, less burning reactions, and longer periods of remission 12 than conventional broadband UV-B phototherapy. The relative efficacy of narrowband UV-B in comparison to PUVA was investigated by van Weelden et al 20 in a pilot study of 10 patients with widespread psoriasis vulgaris.On average the same results were found with both treatments.…”

“…Compared with broadband UV-B, both a lower 12,17 as well as a higher fequency 26 of burning episodes or more intense erythematous reactions 19 were reported. Differences in the irradiation protocol and the patient's skin type seem to be important in this regard.…”

Comparative Study of the Gross Interpretation of Phototesting and Objective Measurement with Using a Spectrophotometer for Patients with Psoriasis and Vitiligo Treated with Narrow-band UVB

“…However, the above methods rely on the gross evaluation by examiners, and so the MED and MMD may be different among examiners depending on the individual experience and the subjective index, and they could be different depending on the lighting at the time of examination and the facultative skin color of the subject 6 . For the treatment of psoriasis and vitiligo, the method using the NBUVB has recently been widely used [7][8][9] , and although objective methods that measure skin reactions on phototests and in response to phototherapy are required, any studies on these objective methods are currently not sufficient. The equipment used to objectively measure the MED includes the laser Doppler blood flowmeter, the skin reflectance instrument, the spectrophotometer etc 10 .…”

The toll-like receptor 3 pathway in homeostasis, responses to injury and wound repair

“…The capacity of UVB-radiation to activate TLR3 responses in the skin could also potentially be harnessed for the treatment of certain dermatological conditions [49]. Patients with psoriasis respond well to narrow band UVB-radiation [101], and UVA/UVB-radiation was demonstrated to have beneficial effects in patients with atopic dermatitis [102]. However, given that such approaches can have potential long-term complications, for example skin cancer, alternative strategies to agonise TLR3 may be more applicable.…”