Yesterday the news hit that there's a 31p tablet that could help to ease psoriasis. If you missed the update, in short, pantetheine has been found to potentially help with psoriasis, with the compound found in supplements that equate to 31p per day.
While this is understandably exciting for anyone who has the inflammatory skin condition that causes uncomfortable redness and itchy skin, with my beauty editor hat on, I immediately felt sceptical.
The research shows that there's a potential link between pantetheine, cholesterol metabolism and dendritic cells, which are immune cells that play an important role in driving inflammation, which is what causes psoriasis. The issue for me is that the research was performed on mice. So while a budget-friendly pill containing pantetheine sounds like it could help with psoriasis, research is limited.
© Getty Images/Connect ImagesI turned to dermatologist Dr. Sidra Khan to find out if this is truly something to be excited about, or another hyperbolic claim.
"This is genuinely interesting research, and I always welcome potential new approaches to treating psoriasis," she began. Dr. Khan elaborated that my concerns surrounding the treatment being mice-centric aren't entirely valid.
"What makes the study particularly interesting is that it hasn't stopped at laboratory or animal work." She explains that there was also a small proof-of-concept trial involving 24 people with plaque psoriasis (the main type of psoriasis).
Diving into the study, Dr. Khan elaborated: "Everyone received standard topical calcipotriol/betamethasone treatment, while half also received oral pantetheine. After 12 weeks, the group receiving pantetheine showed greater improvement in psoriasis severity, particularly amongst those who also had raised cholesterol."
So while the link is genuinely interesting, Dr. Khan is quick to note that 24 is "far too small a study" to change clinical practice. "We need much larger, well-controlled and ideally independently replicated trials before we know how effective it really is, which patients might benefit, what the optimal dose is and its longer-term safety."
© Getty ImagesCan we trust mice-tested trials?
Human trials aside, are we okay to get cautiously excited about the results in mice? Dr. Khan says: "Animal research can be incredibly useful for identifying new biological pathways, but many treatments that look promising in mice never translate into effective treatments for humans."
The fact that the researchers also studied human immune is promising, though. But would she recommend it to her clients? Not yet.
"Before dermatologists recommend a new treatment, there is a rigorous process of clinical trials to establish efficacy, safety, appropriate dosing and how it compares with treatments we already have."
Can a pill help psoriasis?
Anyone with psoriasis will be familiar with topical treatments to treat the condition, but a pill seems a lot less effort, but Dr. Khan says any new option needs to be evaluated against that background and current standard therapies.
© Getty ImagesSo the big question: will pantetheine be the miracle cure for psoriasis? "Potentially. The biological rationale is plausible, and these early results suggest pantetheine may have a role as an adjunct to, not replacement of, established treatment, in a particular subset of psoriasis patients.
"But that is very different from saying people with psoriasis should start buying pantethine supplements. The trial was small, participants continued their standard psoriasis treatment, and we don't yet know whether the findings will hold up in larger studies."
In summary?
"I would be cautiously optimistic. It is an exciting avenue of research, but we are not yet at the point where I would recommend pantetheine routinely to my patients with psoriasis. Anyone whose psoriasis isn't adequately controlled should speak to their GP or dermatologist rather than self-treating with supplements."
