Treatment of psoriasis gets new hope

Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden are now launching a plan to effectively treat psoriasis.

An estimated 125 million people worldwide suffer from the difficult to treat disease, which manifests itself in scaly and often itchy patches on the skin. The reason is that cells divide without restraint as new blood vessels form in the deeper layers of the skin.

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Severe psoriasis linked to major adverse cardiovascular events

New Orleans - Psoriasis is a common inflammatory skin disease, and if severe, has been demonstrated to be a risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) disease. However, the degree to which psoriasis is associated with major adverse cardiac events (MACE), such as heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death has not been defined. Now, new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has revealed an increased incidence of MACE in patients with severe psoriasis.

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Four new psoriasis ‘hotspots’ identified by U-M geneticists

Discovery may aid in developing new therapies

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Scientists at the University of Michigan Heath System and their collaborators have found four new DNA “hotspots” that may one day help guide new treatments for psoriasis, one of the most common autoimmune diseases in the country.

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Research reveals early steps in Parkinson’s pathology

Contact: Cathleen Genova


Cell Press
Although the cause of Parkinson’s disease remains a mystery, scientists now have a better understanding of the earliest stages of abnormal aggregation of a key disease-associated protein. The research, published by Cell Press online on April 6th in Biophysical Journal, provides new insight into the first steps in the formation of neurotoxic structures called Lewy bodies that are the hallmark of the Parkinson’s brain.

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Home UVB therapy for psoriasis as effective and safe as hospital treatment

For patients with psoriasis, treatment with ultraviolet B (UVB) at home is as effective and as safe as conventional hospital based phototherapy, concludes a study published on bmj.com today.

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Scientists find genetic markers associated with psoriasis

Scientists at the University of Michigan Department of Dermatology, the U-M School of Public Health and their collaborators have found DNA “hotspots” that may reveal how genetic differences among individuals result in psoriasis, an autoimmune disease of the skin. Published in Nature Genetics, the findings could lead to new drug targets and tailored treatments for the disease.

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Experimental Psoriasis drug shows promising results

Experimental Drug Ustekinumab bests Enbrel in 3-Month Trial; But longer-Term Results Unknown

An experimental drug called ustekinumab shows better treatment results than an established drug, Enbrel, for treating moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in a new trial.

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Popular alternative therapy for psoriasis performs no better than placebo

Anecdotal evidence touting the healing power of the Indian spice turmeric for psoriasis received a setback in a prospective study published this month by a leading dermatology journal stating that the low response rate of patients who ingested the active ingredient of the exotic spice was probably a result of the placebo effect.

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Ustekinumab Phase 3 data show long-term improvement of chronic plaque psoriasis

New findings from a second pivotal Phase 3 study show subjects receiving infrequently administered ustekinumab maintained improvement from psoriasis through 1 year

One-year data from a second double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 study showed therapy with ustekinumab given every 12 weeks provided sustained, clinically meaningful improvement in the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis through one year. According to findings presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, 87 percent of patients responding to ustekinumab 45 mg maintenance therapy and 91 percent of patients responding to ustekinumab 90 mg maintenance therapy sustained at least a 75 percent improvement in psoriasis through one year, as measured by the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI 75). Ustekinumab is a new human monoclonal antibody with a novel mechanism of action that targets the cytokines interleukin-12 (IL-12) and interleukin-23 (IL-23), naturally occurring proteins that are important in the body’s regulation of immune responses and that are also believed to play a role in immune-mediated inflammatory disorders, including psoriasis.

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Promising Phase 3 trial results show biologic therapy ustekinumab significantly improved psoriasis

3 subcutaneous doses of ustekinumab resulted in long-term PASI 75 response and marked improvement in quality of life measures according to study findings

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, October 3, 2007 — The first reported findings from an international, Phase 3 study showed that more than two-thirds of patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis receiving two doses of ustekinumab (CNTO 1275) achieved at least a 75 percent reduction in psoriasis at week 12, the primary endpoint of the study, as measured by the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI 75). Importantly, findings also showed that following one additional dose at week 16, a substantial proportion of patients receiving ustekinumab maintained a PASI 75 response through week 28. Data from the study, presented at the World Congress of Dermatology, involved more than 1,200 subjects and showed that within four weeks of initiating treatment with ustekinumab, patients experienced significant and clinically meaningful improvements in quality of life measures compared with patients receiving placebo. Ustekinumab is a new, fully-human monoclonal antibody with a novel mechanism of action that targets the cytokines interleukin-12 (IL-12) and interleukin-23 (IL-23), and is currently in Phase 3 development by Centocor, Inc. for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

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