Betamethasone dipropionate spray 0.05% alleviates troublesome symptoms of plaque psoriasis

Patients consider pruritus and scaling to be the most bothersome symptoms of psoriasis. Psoriatic plaques on the knees and elbows are widely considered difficult to treat because of the thicker stratum corneum, which reduces skin hydration and topical absorption. Betamethasone dipropionate (BD) spray 0.05% is a topical steroid with demonstrated efficacy in treating plaque psoriasis. Post hoc analyses of 2 phase 3 trials were done to assess the efficacy of BD spray in relieving the symptom of itching and improving the signs of erythema, scaling, and plaque elevation on plaques located on the knees and elbows vs its vehicle and an augmented BD (AugBD) lotion 0.05%. Betamethasone dipropionate spray reduced the incidence of pruritus, with approximately half of patients who reported itching at baseline showing complete itch relief by day 4. Betamethasone dipropionate spray also reduced the signs of psoriasis on knee and elbow plaques in more patients than AugBD lotion at day 4, though the differences were not statistically significant. Efficacy was similar between the 2 formulations on days 8 and 15. Betamethasone dipropionate spray rapidly relieved2 of the most bothersome symptoms of psoriasis and improved psoriatic signs in hard-to-treat knee and elbow plaques.