Studies on the carbohydrate metabolism in psoriatic epidermis.

Enzymic activities and cofactor levels in the epidermis are reviewed with special regard to psoriasis and the papulosquamous disorders lichen simplex and lichen planus. The metabolism of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate and its dependent pathways seems to deviate in psoriasis from that in the contrasted dermatoses, in normal skin in health and in skin during the process of wound healing. The mitochondrial function also differs between psoriatic and normal skin. In some conditions in psoriasis this function cannot be seen to deviate from normality, however. The regulation and control of mitochondrial function in psoriasis might be another area in which future investigations may yield significant information on the pathophysiology in this skin disease.