Amygdalin analogs for the treatment of psoriasis.

Psoriasis is one of the most prevalent immune-mediated illness worldwide. The disease can still only be managed rather than cured, so treatments are aimed at clearing skin lesions and preventing their recurrence. Several treatments are available depending on the extent of the psoriatic lesion. Among the topical treatments corticostereoids, vitamin D3 analogs and retinoids are commonly used. However, these treatments may have adverse effects in the long term. Conversely, systemic conventional treatments include immunosuppresors such as cyclosporin or methotrexate associated with high toxicity levels. Biologicals are alternative therapeutical agents introduced in the last 10 years. These include fusion proteins or monoclonal antibodies designed to inhibit the action of specific cytokines or to prevent T-lymphocyte activation. However, due to recent knowledge on the etiology of the disease, diverse new small molecules have appeared as promising alternatives for the treatment of psoriasis. Among them, inhibitors of JAK3, inhibitors of PDE 4 and amygdalin analogs. The latter are promising small molecules presently in preclinical studies which are the object of the present report.