Effect of Topical Simvastatin Therapy on Patients with Psoriasis

Abstract

Objective: Study the effect of simvastatin ointment on tissue expression of inflammatory mediators associated with pathogenesis of Psoriasis such as TNF-?, , IL-6 and ICAM-1. Background: Psoriasis is a common and complex inflammatory disease, which was described as the chronic systemic T-cell-mediated inflammatory condition characterized by the skin and joint manifestation. The patients with psoriasis are usually presented with a white-silvery scaly lesion covering various parts of the body. In psoriatic lesions, epidermal Keratinocytes produce a variety of inflammatory mediators, such as TNF-?, IL-6, ICAM-1 will stimulate the abnormal proliferation which will cause the psoriasis characteristics to appear. Simvastatin is an anti-hyperlipidemic agent that acts by competitive, reversible inhibition of the HMG-CoA, the rate-limiting step in cholesterol biosynthesis. Materials and Method: The study has been carried out on 44 patients suffering from mild to moderate chronic plaque psoriasis; patients with plaque psoriasis will be randomly divided into two groups, the first group was the Placebo group (n 22) whose patients have directed to have placebo plus topical steroid (Dermosalic ointment) ® ( Betamethasone dipropionate 0.5 mg /g and salicylic acid 30 mg /g) two times for a period of 8 weeks. The second group was the Simvastatin group (n-22) whose patients have been directed to have Simvastatin ointment 5% two times per day in addition to (Dermosalic ointment)® ( Betamethasone dipropionate 0.5 mg /g and salicylic acid 30 mg /g) for a period of 8 weeks. Before and after the eight weeks; The skin biopsy samples have been taken from patients in the two groups at baseline and after eight weeks of treatment used to measure concentrations of TNF-?, IL-6, and ICAM-1. Conclusion: The present study indicated the fact that Simvastatin ointment plus topical steroid improvement of psoriasis by reduce concentration of inflammatory mediators.