New Relief for Psoriasis
Reported February 8, 2007
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — People who suffer from the distressing skin disease psoriasis may soon have a new treatment option.
Researchers report good success for an drug called interleukin-12/23 monoclonal antibody. In a study comparing various doses of the drug to a placebo injection, most patients reported significant improvements in the red, scaly patches characteristic of the condition. Furthermore, the level of improvement increased with the dose. People who took the highest doses reported the best overall results.
Patients receive interleukin-12/23 through an injection. In this study, investigators compared one 45-milligram dose with one 90-milligram dose, four weekly 45-milligram doses, and four weekly 90-milligram doses. A 75-percent improvement in symptoms was seen in 52 percent of patients receiving the single 45-milligram dose and in 81-percent of patients receiving the four weekly 90-milligram doses. Patients noting a 90-percent-or-greater improvement ranged from 23 percent in the single 45-milligram dose group to 52 percent of those in the four weekly 90-milligram dose group.
Side effects were similar between the medication groups and the placebo group.
The researchers conclude interleukin-12/23 monoclonal antibody is effective in the treatment of psoriasis, but report more study is needed before it is put into widespread use.
“Additional studies are needed to characterize the safety and efficacy of the interleukin-12/23 monoclonal antibody in patients with psoriasis and to define the dose schedule that will safely maintain the high level of response,” write the U.S. and Canadian investigators.
SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, 2007;356:580-592