Topical drugs for the treatment of psoriasis

Abstract

In recent years, great progress has been made in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, which has provided multiple new targets for the treatment of psoriasis, and ushered the treatment, especially topical treatment, of psoriasis to a new era. Some new targeted topical drugs with action mechanisms different from those of traditional drugs have been applied in clinical practice, which are mainly small-molecule inhibitors targeting cell signaling pathways or enzymes involved in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, such as the Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK/STAT) pathway, phosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4), mitogen - activated/extracellular-signal - regulated kinase kinase (MEK), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), tropomyosin receptor kinase A (TrKA), retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor γ (RORγ), and so on. At present, many phaseⅠ and Ⅱ clinical trials are conducted for these drugs. Some completed trials have shown that they have good effectiveness, safety and tolerance, providing more options for the topical treatment of psoriasis. Key words: Psoriasis; External application drugs; Small-molecule inhibitors; Signal transducing pathway; Enzyme