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RecruitingNCT06485505Updated Apr 23, 2026

Isotretinoin Versus Excimer Light an Adjuvant in Treating Onychomycosis

A Phase 1 interventional study of ISOtretinoin 10 MG and excimer light in Onychomycosis, sponsored by Zagazig University. Recruiting at 1 site in Egypt. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 60 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-04-23.

Sponsored by Zagazig University · Phase 1, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Jul 2026, 4 months ago, but the record still lists the study as recruiting.
  • Started Jul 2024; still recruiting 2 years 3 months later.
Phase
Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
36
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 60 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

3 groups of patients with onychomycosis will be recruited. Group A will receive itraconazole alone. Group B will receive itraconazole + low dose isotretinoin and group C will be treated with itraconazole + excimer light sessions.

Read the detailed description

The sample size will be calculated by a statistician based upon the rate of onychomycosis cases attending at the outpatient clinical. 3 equal groups of patients will be included. inclusion criteria include: -definite diagnosis of dermatophyte onychomycosis using KOH examination and a fungal culture - a washout period of at least 1 month of any previous therapy -age> 16 years Exclusion criteria include: -pregnancy and lactation -Any active infection or inflammation in or around the nails other than onychomycosis -patients with liver diseases, heart disease and diabetes

Steps of performance and techniques used:

  1. Complete history taking.
  2. Detailed local examination:

Local examination will be done for the nail to detect swelling, induration, erythema around the nail, local pain and presence of pus during the sessions.

Patients with proven onychomycosis clinically, dermoscopically and through culture will be included in the study.

The included patients will sign an informed written consent before the beginning of the study, and the study will be done under the approval of the ethical committee for postgraduate studies and research of faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University.

Onychomycosis severity index (OSI) will be used for grading of onychomycosis severity where 0=no onychomycosis,1-5= mild onychomycosis,6- 15=moderate onychomycosis, and 16-35=severe onychomycosis.

The patients will be divided into 3 equal groups:

GROUP 1: (itraconazole group); all patients will be prescribed Itraconazole in the dose of 200mg twice daily for 1 week per month, for 3 consecutive months after screening of complete blood count, liver, and renal function tests. patients were advised to record any side effects.

GROUP 2 : will be given low dose of isotretinoin as an adjuvant to itraconazole in the same previously mentioned protocol.

Treatment protocol consists of low dose isotretinoin 20mg, every other day for a 3- month course. After completion of the course, treating dose of isotretinoin will be maintained for 4-6 weeks to prevent recurrence, and to improve healing. During treatment, an infrequent application of the previous therapies will be permitted.

GROUP 3: will be treated with excimer light as an adjuvant to itraconazole in the same previously mentioned protocol. Nails will be treated with XeCl2 excimer light (Eximal Elite Device).

02

Conditions studied

  • Onychomycosis

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03

In context

Onychomycosis

158 studies on the registry are indexed under Onychomycosis; 16 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 36 is below the median of 60 across 143 interventional studies indexed under Onychomycosis.

Browse Onychomycosis studies →

Lead sponsor

Zagazig University is the lead sponsor of 459 studies on the registry; 77 are open to participants now.

Of its 5 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 0 (0%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 60 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • patients with onychomycosis

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • pregnant and lactating females patients on statin therapy or photosensitizing drugs patients with liver disease, heart disease and diabetes milletus.
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Participant)
Enrollment
36 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Itraconazole

    all patients will be prescribed Itraconazole in the dose of 200mg twice daily for 1 week per month, for 3 consecutive months after screening of complete blood count, liver, and renal function tests. patients were advised to record any side effects

    Drug: Itraconazole 200 mg

  • Experimental
    Itraconazole + Low dose Isotretinoin

    patients will be given low dose of isotretinoin as an adjuvant to itraconazole in the same previously mentioned protocol. Treatment protocol consists of low dose isotretinoin (20mg, every other day for pediatrics) for a 3- month course. After completion of the course, treating dose of isotretinoin was maintained for 4-6 weeks to prevent recurrence, and to improve healing. During treatment, an infrequent application of the previous therapies was permitted.

    Drug: ISOtretinoin 10 MG

  • Experimental
    Itraconazole +Excimer light

    will be treated with excimer light as an adjuvant to itraconazole in the same previously mentioned protocol. Nails will be treated with XeCl2 excimer light (Eximal Elite Device).

    Device: excimer light

Interventions

  • Low dose isotretinoin as an adjuvant for itraconazole in treating onychomycosis

  • Deviceexcimer light

    excimer light as an adjuvant for itraconazole in treating onychomycosis

  • Itraconazole alone

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Clinical improvement

    using onychomycosis severity index at baseline, last session and follow up vistis

    Time frame: 6 month frame: clinical assessment will be done at first presentation of the patients, monthly during the treatment course, at the last visit and 3 month after stoppage of treatment at the follow up visit in a total span of 6 months

  2. Culture

    Fungal culture to detect fungal cause and presence after treatment

    Time frame: 6 month frame: Fungal culture will be done at first presentation of the patients, at the last visit and 3 month after stoppage of treatment at the follow up visit in a total span of 6 months

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 23, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06485505
Lead sponsor
Zagazig University
Responsible party
Mona El Radi Kamal Mohamed Emam (Principle Investigator, Zagazig University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jul 3, 2024
Start date
Jul 12, 2024
Primary completion
Jul 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Apr 23, 2026

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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Studies of the drug tested here: Isotretinoin

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