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Daily Topical Rapamycin for Vitiligo

Daily Topical Rapamycin Therapy for the Treatment of Vitiligo

Status
Active, not recruiting
Phases
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05342519
Enrollment
20
Registered
2022-04-22
Start date
2022-07-28
Completion date
2027-12-01
Last updated
2026-03-05

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Vitiligo

Keywords

Dermatology, Pediatrics, Rapamycin

Brief summary

In current Dermatology practice, options for vitiligo remain limited. The purpose of this study is to determine if once daily dosed topical rapamycin is effective for the treatment of patients with vitiligo. Participants will apply either 0.1% topical rapamycin or 0.001% topical rapamycin for six months to a lesion on one side of the body, and topical placebo to a corresponding lesion on the opposite side of the body. The study also aims to evaluate patient satisfaction and identify any adverse effects on these dosing regimens.

Interventions

DRUGRapamycin

While rapamycin is not approved for the treatment of vitiligo, it has been found to be efficacious in stopping disease progression in animal models. Another recent study in humans showed that doses of 0.5cc daily of 0.001% of the topical formulation are able to achieve improvement in hypopigmented lesions of the skin at both the clinical and histological level. At this dose, improvement in cell function was observed regarding maintenance of proliferative potential and prevention of senescence, with avoidance of total inhibition of cell growth as has been seen at higher potencies used for immunosuppression.

DRUGPlacebo

All patients will be assigned to received topical placebo cream to the lesion not being treated with the active study drug.

Sponsors

Medical University of South Carolina
Lead SponsorOTHER
American Skin Association
CollaboratorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
QUADRUPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Masking description

The pharmacy will distribute medications in unlabeled, 60-gram tubes following patient enrollment. Tubes will be marked as "Left" and "Right." The association between tube label and treatment type will only be known to pharmacy staff. The pharmacy staff will allocate 10 patients to receive 0.001% rapamycin and 10 patients to receive 0.1% rapamycin.

Intervention model description

During a clinical care visit, if a patient is eligible and agrees to participate, one lesion occupying less than 2% body surface area (BSA) will be identified for treatment with either 0.1% or 0.001% topical rapamycin cream to be applied daily for 6 months. Ten patients will be randomized to each treatment arm, however, if it is clear that one treatment arm is less effective, that treatment arm will be dropped, and study participants will be reallocated to the more effective treatment arm. A second, symmetric lesion about the same size and evolution time occupying less than 2% BSA will be identified for treatment with topical placebo cream to be applied daily for 6 months. The second lesion must be at the corresponding anatomic location on the other half of the body, i.e., if topical rapamycin is applied to the left arm, topical placebo will be applied to the right arm.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
13 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Patients 13 years of age and older * Patients with nonsegmental vitiligo

Exclusion criteria

* Patients with segmental or mucosal vitiligo * Patients with contraindication to use of rapamycin * Patients with history of transplant * Patients with a history of natural immunodeficiency * Patients with a history of artificially induced immunodeficiency * Patients with a history of a serious or life-threatening infection * Patients taking CYP3A4 inhibiting medications * Patients taking strong CYP3A4 inducers * Patients undergoing current treatment for vitiligo * Women that are or may become pregnant

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Number of lesions with no response6 monthsAbsence of change in appearance of targeted lesion. Vitiligo is a depigmenting disease and treatment responses are graded by percentage of repigmentation on a 5-point scale
Number of lesions with partial response6 monthsThere is change in the size of dyspigmentation as compared to its appearance and symptoms at the initial visit, but the lesion remains grossly visible. Vitiligo is a depigmenting disease and treatment responses are graded by percentage of repigmentation on a 5-point scale. Changes in the characteristics of the targeted lesions will be evaluated by a dermatologist and documented via photographs at follow-up visits at 2, 4, and 6-months, with the final outcome measured at the 6-month visit.
Numbers of lesions with complete response6 monthsTargeted lesion is no longer grossly visible.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Average score of Dermatology Quality of Life questionnaire (or Teenager Quality of Life Index)6 monthsThe Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) is designed to measure the health-related quality of life of adult (or teenage) patients suffering from a skin disease. Both physical and psychological symptoms are ranked on a 4-point scale from "not at all" to "very much" to provide a cumulative patient score.

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORAhmad Aleisa, MD

Medical University of South Carolina

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 6, 2026