Comparing the Effects of Topical Miltefosine and Glucantime in Treatment of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Document Type : Original Article (s)

Authors

1 Professor, Skin Disease and Leishmaniasis Research Center AND Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

2 General Practitioner, Skin Disease and Leishmaniasis Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

3 Associate Professor, Skin and Stem Cell Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Background: Due to the limited number of studies, failure to adequately investigating the impact of miltefosine in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis, and the fact that faster recovery of injuries causes less scarring for the patient, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of topical miltefosine on the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis.Methods: In this clinical trial study, 64 patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis were equally treated in two groups with miltefosine and Glucantime. The first group of patients was treated with localized Glucantime 2 times a week (up to 28 days) and the second group was treated with localized miltefosine (ointment 6%), once daily (for 28 days), in a way that the lesion was completely smeared with the ointment. Patients were examined every week during treatment and the lesion size was recorded. All the patients’ lesions regarding their appearance, wound size, induration, erythema, and lesion size during weekly visits, at end of the treatment, and one month after the treatment were assessed.Findings: Mean age of the patients was 23.12 ± 13.30 years. The cure rate was 34.4% in patients treated with topical Glucantime, and 53.1% in the patients treated with topical miltefosine (P = 0.010). 1 month after the treatment, the cure rate was 50% in patients treated with topical Glucantime, and 81.3% in patients treated with miltefosine (P = 0.300). Mean size of the remaining scar caused by cutaneous leishmaniasis was 1.9 cm in the group treated with Glucantime, and 0.9 cm in the group treated with miltefosine (P = 0.001).Conclusion: According to the results of this study and other studies in this area, it can be concluded that topical miltefosine can treat the lesions faster than intralesional Glucantime injection. In addition, patients treated with topical miltefosine had smaller scars.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Isfahan Medical School
Volume 31, Issue 269 - Serial Number 269
November and December 2014
Pages 2257-2263

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History

  • Receive Date: 18 July 2012
  • Revise Date: 01 November 2024
  • Accept Date: 06 April 2022

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