Efficacy and safety of methotrexate in lichen planus

Objective to evaluate the efficacy and safety of methotrexate in lichen planus. methods this quasi-experimental study was carried out in the skin outdoor,mayo hospital,lahore from march 2011 to september 2011. fifty five patients of either sex from puberty onwards were included in the study. efficacy was determined by ≥ 50% clearance of number of mucocutaneous lesions after 12 weeks of oral methotrexate 15mg/week. safety of methotrexate was analyzed by taking history of nausea,fatigue and measuring hemoglobin (hb),white blood cell count (wbc),platelet count,serum alanine aminotransferase (alt),aspartate aminotransferase (ast) levels at base line,2nd,4th,8th and 12th week. resultsmethotrexate was efficacious in 63.6% patients. out of these,21.8% patients were with cutaneous involvement while 41.8% patients had both skin and mucous membrane involvement. there was a significant reduction in number of cutaneous lesions,with little or no effect on mucosal lesions of patients. methotrexate did not prove efficacious even in a single patient with isolated mucosal involvement. the drug was safe and well tolerated in 91% cases. conclusionmethotrexate proved efficacious and safe in our study for most of the patients.