ABSTRACT
The objectives of this report are to assess the relative efficacy of topical dairy extract [MJ1] compared to intralesional meglumine antimonate in the treatment of histologically proven cutaneous leishmaniasis [CL]. A comparative trial was conducted in which 98 patients with a total of 154 lesions were randomly allocated to the two treatment groups. The first group [control] received meglumine antimonate 0.5-1 cc intralesion administration, for a total of four injections with one week interval. The second group received topical MJ1 agent as a paste applied to the lesions without cover three times a day for 30 days. Response to treatment was assessed at 1, 2, 3 and 8 weeks after the start of therapy. Of the 85 lesions treated with MJ1, the mean size of lesions decreased from 197 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 110 to 284] mm2 to 101.2 [95% CI: 57.3 to 145] mm2, 82 [96.5%] were reduced in size and 3 [3.5%] got worse. Correspondingly, in the 69 lesions treated with meglumine antimonate, the mean size of lesions increased from 113.6 [95% CI: 73.0 to 154.0] to 158.1 [95% CI: 94.9 to 221.0] mm2, 57 [82.6%] were reduced in size and 12 [17.4%] got worse. The differences were statistically significant [p<0.001]. This study demonstrates that topical treatment with MJ1, agent is more effective than Glucantime and is an effective alternative to meglumine antimonate for the treatment of CL