A Prospective, Multicenter, Open-label Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of a Cream Containing Xyloglucan, Pea Protein, and Opuntia ficus-indica Extract Versus Calcipotriol/Betamethasone in Adult Patients with Mild-to-moderate Psoriasis

Stefano Veraldi; Valentina Rosca; Remus Ioan Orasan; Magda Constantin; Roni P Dodiuk-Gad

A Prospective, Multicenter, Open-label Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of a Cream Containing Xyloglucan, Pea Protein, and Opuntia ficus-indica Extract Versus Calcipotriol/Betamethasone in Adult Patients with Mild-to-moderate Psoriasis

J Clin Aesthet Dermatol. 2024 Mar;17(3):12-17.

Authors

Stefano Veraldi¹, Valentina Rosca², Remus Ioan Orasan³, Magda Constantin⁴, Roni P Dodiuk-Gad⁵

Affiliations

¹ Dr. Veraldi is with the Dermatological Center in Milan, Italy.
² Dr. Rosca is with Emergency County Hospital in Targoviste, Romania.
³ Dr. Orasan is with Individual Medical Office of Dermatology in Cluj, Romania.
⁴ Dr. Constantin is with Colentina Clinical Hospital in Bucharest, Romania.
⁵ Dr. Dodiuk-Gad is with the Department of Dermatology at Emek Medical Center in Afula, Israel, the Division of Dermatology and Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada, and the Department of Dermatology and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel.

PMID: 38495550
PMCID: PMC10941852

Abstract

Objective: Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory skin disease, requiring local and systemic drugs according to disease severity. This study aims to investigate the efficacy and safety of a topical treatment containing xyloglucan, pea proteins and Opuntia ficus-indica extracts (XPO) compared to calcipotriol 50mcg/betamethasone 0.5mg ointment (CB).

Methods: Forty-two patients diagnosed with mild-to-moderate plaque psoriasis were assigned 1:1 to XPO treatment or CB for 28 days. Disease status was assessed at baseline (V1), monitored every two weeks (V2, V3), and at follow-up (V4). Disease severity was assessed by PASI (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index), PGA (Physician's Global Assessment), and VAS (Visual Analog Scale for itching). Photos were taken before and after XPO treatment. Treatment efficacy was determined by comparing psoriasis severity at baseline to V3. Tolerability was assessed by monitoring the occurrence of adverse events.

Results: Both groups showed a statistically significant difference in PASI score from V1 to V2 (p=0.001, XPO; p=0.008, CB) and to V3 (p=0.001, XPO; p=0.004, CB). XPO achieved a PASI 50 score of 24 percent at V2 and 52 percent at V3 compared to CB (0% at V2 and 19% at V3). At V3, PGA was significantly reduced in both groups (p=0.003, XPO; p=0.001 CB). Both treatments significantly reduced itching at V2 (p=0.001, XPO; p=0.003, CB) and V3 (p=0.001, XPO; p=0.0005, CB).

Conclusion: XPO showed similar efficacy to CB, significantly reducing disease severity, erythema, itching, induration, and scaling with an excellent tolerability profile.

Keywords: Opuntia ficus-indica extract; PASI; Psoriasis; calcipotriol/betamethasone; pea protein; xyloglucan.