Is this the new psoriasis cure?

Psoriasis is a medical condition typically marked by the emergence of itchy or burning patches of red, scaly skin, and those who suffer from it typically try to cope with the use of anti-inflammatory drugs and vitamin D supplements.
Now, according to a new study in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, researchers at eight different research centers have developed a treatment that shows potential to cure the disease.
For years, scientists have known that an inflammation-causing protein called interleukin-23 could be a key to a cure. However, past efforts have not produced very promising results.
“The striking result we achieved using a human antibody that targets the signal interleukin-23 suggests we are on the threshold of doing something very different from our current model of treating psoriasis with immunosuppressive drugs throughout an adult lifetime,” said study author James Krueger, head of the Laboratory of Investigative Dermatology at Rockefeller University in New York City. “It raises the possibility of working toward long-term remission — in other words, a cure.”
In 2004, a team including Krueger indicated a major role for interleukin-23 in the disease, and study since then has backed this hypothesis. Researchers say that interleukin-23 commences a sequence of events that leads to inflammation in the skin, abnormal growth of skin cells, and dilation of blood vessels.
The discovery of interleukin-23’s importance in the condition has led to several antibody-based therapies that focus on it. One human antibody known as BI 655066 stands out as a particularly promising candidate. BI 655066 targets interleukin-23 and prevents it from binding on the receptors on cells that react to it. A single medical treatment with the antibody produced what the team identifies as “rapid, substantial, and durable clinical improvement in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis.”
In the study, patients who got the antibody treatment had over 80 percent improvement in the intensity and scope of their skin lesions that lasted until monitoring ended six weeks after the initial regimen. Meanwhile, genetic sequencing from skin samples showed that the antibody decreased the expression of many of the proteins and other molecules that comprise psoriasis.
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