IL-6 and FAS (CD95) serum level in patients suffering from psoriasis and in relation to the lymphocyte subpopulations.

In the presented study the subpopulations of blood lymphocytes as well as serum concentrations of IL-6 and FAS in 20 patients with psoriasis triggered by infection and 17 healthy controls were analyzed. The flow cytometry technique and ELISA method were used. We detected statistically significant higher serum level of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in patients with active disease and tendency to the lowering of FAS level, although not statistically significant.

New development in the treatment of psoriasis--infliximab.

TNF-alpha may have an impact on principal pathological phenomena in psoriatic skin through inducing inflammatory cells migration from blood vessels. It follows that blockade of TNF-alpha should diminish inflammation and normalize keratinocyte proliferation in psoriasis. Infliximab is a mouse-human chimeric monoclonal antibody that neutralizes the biologic activity of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) by binding to the soluble and transmembrane forms of this cytokine and inhibiting its binding to the receptors.