Meffert 1997.

Study characteristics
Methods	RCT, placebo‐controlled, double‐blind Date of study: not stated Location: 17 centres in Germany
Participants	Randomised: 128 participants Inclusion criteria Participants with moderate‐severe psoriasis (PASI 8 to 25) Age 18 ‐ 70 years Exclusion criteria Pregnancy, leucopenia, kidney insufficiency, liver insufficiency Had uncontrolled hypertension Dropouts and withdrawals 15/128 (12%) Protocol violation (6) Lack efficacy (4) AE (5)
Interventions	Intervention A. Ciclosporin (n = 43), orally, 1.25 mg/kg/d, 10 weeks Control intervention B. Ciclosporin (n = 41), orally, 2.5 mg/kg/d, 10 weeks C. Placebo (n = 44), orally, 10 weeks
Outcomes	Assessments at 10 weeks Primary outcomes of the trial PASI Secondary outcomes of the trial PASI 25 PASI 50 PASi 75
Notes	Funding source not stated but 3 out of 4 authors from Sandoz pharmaceuticals Declarations of interest: not stated
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Quote (p 77): "patients were randomised" Comment: no description of the method used to guarantee random sequence generation
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Comment: no description of the method used to guarantee allocation concealment
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Quote (p 77): "double blind study period" Comment: no description of the method used to guarantee blinding regarding the need of hypertension and renal function surveillance and modification in ciclosporin groups
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Quote (p 77): "double blind study period" Comment: no description of the method used to guarantee blinding, regarding the need of hypertension and renal function surveillance and modification in ciclosporin groups
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	128 included/120 analysed Comment: methods for dealing with missing data not specified, not ITT analyses
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	Comment: no protocol was available. The prespecified outcomes mentioned in the Methods section appeared to have been reported