Treatment of Chronic Discoid Lupus Erythematosus with Large Doses of Vitamin B121

In a preliminary report Goldblatt (1) reported the intramuscular use of vitamin Bi2 in the treatment of 3 cases of chronic discoid lupus erythematosus and 1 case of subacute lupus erythematosus. Using dosages of 15 micrograms weekly he obtained clearing in 1 case of chronic discoid lupus erythematosus after 8 injections. The other 2 cases showed good response but not as good as in the first case. The subacute case improved after 2 months therapy with 15 micrograms given 3 times weekly. Goldblatt recommended further investigation with larger doses of vitamin B12. Recently Kopfler (2) treated 2 cases of chronic discoid lupus erythematosus of the scalp with 1000 micrograms of vitamin Bi2 twice weekly and stated there was a regrowth of hair in the areas of alopecia after 4 weeks of treatment. Schoch (3) commented editorially that in 1 case of subacute lupus erythematosus 500 micro-grams 3 times weekly produced apparent improvement after 50 micrograms 3 times weekly had caused no change.