Estriol
Because scleroderma mostly affects women, a number of lines of evidence led a group of experts to explore estriol as a potential treatment. Scleroderma sometimes improves during pregnancy, urinary estriol levels increase during late pregnancy, and estriol softens the uterine cervix. For ten months, two scleroderma patients, ages 48 and 59, respectively, received estriol treatment. The first patient received 10 mg weekly subcutaneously while the second patient started with 2 mg oral daily and was eventually stopped on the oral dose due to urticaria. The second patient then received 10–20 mg weekly subcutaneously. In both individuals, there was skin weakening in all affected locations. This was followed by a rise in the range of motion of the major and medium-sized joints, a lessening of cyanosis on fingers and extremities and marked histologic improvement of affected skin.