[Treatment of the keratinizing skin disorder, psoriasis, by topical vitamin D3].

The active vitamin D(3) regulates proliferation and differentiation of epidermal keratinocytes. Although topical application of steroid has been principal therapy for psoriasis, there occurs some side effects such as skin atropy, telangiectasis, and purpura. Recently topical vitamin D(3), tacalcitol, calcipotriol, and maxacalcitol, which avoid these side effects, are widely used for psoriasis. In this review, we discussed the mechanism, effect, and side effect of topical vitamin D(3) for psoriasis.