Long-term maintenance treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis with infliximab in combination with methotrexate or azathioprine in a retrospective cohort.

Background: Effective, fast-acting and safe therapies are needed for long-term maintenance treatment of psoriasis. In October 2005, infliximab was approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, but long-term data are limited.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of infliximab, used in combination with methotrexate or azathioprine, in maintaining clinical benefit in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis.

Methemoglobin formation during laser induced photothermolysis of vascular skin lesions.

Background And Objective: Monitoring dynamic changes during laser induced photothermolysis of vascular skin lesions is essential for obtaining an optimal therapeutic result. Rapid photoinduced thermal damage occurs at a threshold temperature of about 70 degrees C. It is therefore, relevant to identify markers to indicate if this threshold temperature has been reached.

Expression of the psoriasis-associated antigen, Pso p27, is inhibited by cyclosporin A.

The psoriasis-associated antigen, pso p27, can be isolated from psoriasis scale and is present in complement-activating immune complexes in psoriatic scale, and in serum from patients with psoriasis. The antigen is produced by tryptase-positive cells in the skin lesions and is shown to be a major antigen in the immune reactions in psoriasis. The synthesis of this particular antigen is reduced with the remission of inflammation in the skin lesions.