Mechanism behind ineffective psoriasis drugs identified
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that manifests as red, scaly skin patches. There is no causal treatment for the disease, but the symptoms can be significantly alleviated with modern therapies. Complex changes in the networks of immune cells and the messengers they use to communicate with each other are responsible for the development of the skin disease. Clinical trials revealed that newly developed drugs blocking only the messenger interleukin-23 are more effective than previous treatments targeting both interleukin-23 and interleukin-12 in psoriasis patients. The responsible mechanism has so far remained unknown. Now, researchers at the University of Zurich (UZH) have uncovered the underlying molecular mechanisms. … [read more]