Oral mini-pulse therapy in vitiligo: a systematic review

Background There is limited evidence supporting the use of alternative treatments for patients with nonstable vitiligo. Objective This study aimed to review the effects of oral mini-pulse (OMP) therapy in the management of nonsegmental vitiligo. Methods The following databases were searched between inception and May 2020 for relevant studies: Scopus, Web of Science, MEDLINE, and Embase. All randomized controlled trials that compared OMP therapy with any other active treatment or placebo for nonstable vitiligo were included. The Cochrane's risk of bias tool was used to evaluate the risk of bias (ROB) in selected studies, and the overall quality of evidence of each outcome was assessed using the Grading Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) system. Results Four studies met our selection criteria. All of them were conducted in India and included 246 patients. OMP therapy included betamethasone or dexamethasone. The duration of treatment was 6 months in all studies. Up to 32% of patients achieved a repigmentation rate of >75% when OMP therapy was administered as monotherapy. No difference was observed between OMP therapy and other treatments in arresting the disease, and weight gain was the most frequent adverse effect. The overall ROB in all included studies was relatively high because of the randomization process, outcome measurement and informed selection of outcomes. Conclusion Based on the findings of these studies, OMP therapy did not demonstrate additional value compared with other treatments. Hence, there is an urgent need to conduct high-quality clinical trials to evaluate this therapy.