Symptoms of psoriasis disappear when the S100A9 gene is deactivated in all cells of the body

The severity of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis can be reduced by inhibiting S100A9 systemically throughout the whole body rather than locally on the skin, according to a new study.

By way of background, S100A9 activation in skin and immune cells has been identified as a risk factor for the development of Ps and/or PsA. The symptoms of psoriasis disappear when the S100A9 gene is deactivated in all cells of the body. The new preclinical experiments were able to shed light on the particular influence that the skin and immune cells in which S100A9 is produced have on disease severity. 

"We now know that the inflammatory responses in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis are enhanced when S100A9 is only inhibited in skin cells," says study author Erwin Wagner, a geneticist at Medical University of Vienna. Therefore, drugs inhibiting S100A9 have to be administered systemically in the form of tablets or drips.

Our study is an important step towards the development of targeted therapeutic options in the form of drugs that act systemically rather than locally on the skin," says Wagner.