Novel immune-based therapies for psoriasis.

The primacy of the immune system in the pathogenesis of psoriasis is a well-established concept to the extent that psoriasis has been classified as a T-cell-mediated, autoimmune disease. An explosion of knowledge concerning immunological events in psoriasis and the clinical efficacy of immunologically directed therapies, such as cyclosporin, support this concept. Armed with this understanding and modern biotechnology, novel interventions have been developed to treat psoriasis. The aim of these therapies is to provide selective, immunologically directed intervention with the hope that such specificity will result in fewer side-effects than traditional therapies. Of interest and importance, these pharmaceutical interventions also act as a form of investigational tool in psoriasis. Their relative efficacy in the psoriatic process provides useful insights into the hierarchial importance of immune events in the disease process and recent evidence suggests that innate rather than acquired immunity has a key role. This article reviews recent developments in immune-based therapies for psoriasis.