Topical Diacerein in Psoriasis Vulgaris

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of topical diacerein in adults with psoriasis vulgaris. The primary objective of the study is to compare the proportion of participants who achieve a clinically meaningful improvement in disease severity between the topical diacerein group and the placebo group. Participants will: Be assigned to receive topical diacerein 1% or placebo twice daily for a treatment period of 2 months. Attend follow-up visits at Weeks 2, 4, 6, and 8. Undergo an additional evaluation one month after treatment cessation.

Timeline

Start

2026-02-01

Primary completion

2027-02-01

Completion

2027-05-01

Publications

• Background Armstrong AW, Lee K, Yee D, Woodbury M, Zundell M, Zagona-Prizio C, Yousif J, Grant C, Shields A, Chou P, Callis Duffin K, Gottlieb AB, Merola JF, Perez-Chada L. Validation of DermSat-7 for Assessing Treatment Satisfaction in Patients With Psoriasis. JAMA Dermatol. 2025 Feb 26;161(4):416-20. doi: 10.1001/jamadermatol.2024.6567. Online ahead of print.
• Background Nael, S., M. Abbassi, and S. Farid, MSR225 Translation and Cultural Adaptation of Four EQ Bolt-Ons for the Use in the Quantitative Psychometric Investigation in Egyptian Patients With Chronic Skin Conditions. Value in Health, 2024. 27(12): p. S482.
• Background Napoli, G.D., Diacerein for use in treating psoriasis. 2003.
• Background Lebwohl MG, Kircik LH, Moore AY, Stein Gold L, Draelos ZD, Gooderham MJ, Papp KA, Bagel J, Bhatia N, Del Rosso JQ, Ferris LK, Green LJ, Hebert AA, Jones T, Kempers SE, Pariser DM, Yamauchi PS, Zirwas M, Albrecht L, Devani AR, Lomaga M, Feng A, Snyder S, Burnett P, Higham RC, Berk DR. Effect of Roflumilast Cream vs Vehicle Cream on Chronic Plaque Psoriasis: The DERMIS-1 and DERMIS-2 Randomized Clinical Trials. JAMA. 2022 Sep 20;328(11):1073-1084. doi: 10.1001/jama.2022.15632.
• Background Association, W.M. Declaration of Helsinki: Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Participants. 2025 [cited 2025 August 3, 2025]; Available from: https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki/.
• Background Wally V, Hovnanian A, Ly J, Buckova H, Brunner V, Lettner T, Ablinger M, Felder TK, Hofbauer P, Wolkersdorfer M, Lagler FB, Hitzl W, Laimer M, Kitzmuller S, Diem A, Bauer JW. Diacerein orphan drug development for epidermolysis bullosa simplex: A phase 2/3 randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2018 May;78(5):892-901.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2018.01.019. Epub 2018 Feb 2.
• Background Baxi, K., et al., Diacerein in the treatment of chronic plaque psoriasis: A case report. Indian Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, 2022. 8(2): p. 79-82.
• Background Hu P, Wang M, Gao H, Zheng A, Li J, Mu D, Tong J. The Role of Helper T Cells in Psoriasis. Front Immunol. 2021 Dec 15;12:788940. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.788940. eCollection 2021.
• Background Elkalla N, Elhamammsy MH, Bedair NI, Elazazy O, El Kholy AA. A Promising Approach to Psoriasis Vulgaris Management with N-Acetylcysteine and Vitamin E: Targeting the Interplay of Inflammatory and Oxidative Stress. Biomedicines. 2025 May 22;13(6):1275. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines13061275.
• Background Ramic L, Sator P. Topical treatment of psoriasis vulgaris. J Dtsch Dermatol Ges. 2023 Jun;21(6):631-642. doi: 10.1111/ddg.15042. Epub 2023 May 26.
• Background Brunner SM, Ramspacher A, Rieser C, Leitner J, Heil H, Ablinger M, Tevini J, Wimmer M, Koller A, Pinon Hofbauer J, Felder TK, Bauer JW, Kofler B, Lang R, Wally V. Topical Diacerein Decreases Skin and Splenic CD11c+ Dendritic Cells in Psoriasis. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Feb 21;24(5):4324. doi: 10.3390/ijms24054324.

Drugs

Indications