Abstract
The history of psoriasis has had a long and complicated path. With initial challenges in recognizing this disease, psoriasis was misunderstood in ancient times as documented in the Bible as well as in other ancient texts. At first mistakenly thought to be leprosy or other infectious processes such as impetigo, those with psoriasis were ostracized from their communities. It was only in the mid 1800s that Camille Gibert clarified psoriasis as a papulosquamous disease. Remarkable progress in our understanding has occurred over the millennium, some a result of scientific investigation while other has come as a consequence of serendipity. Even in the just the past decade we continue to refine our understanding of the immune dysregulation that causes this condition.
Given the poor characterization of this disease, those with psoriasis also suffered from a lack of effective treatments. We review the history of the treatments that have been employed. Starting with Fowler’s solution, sometimes the treatments had significant toxicity. The use of tar and anthralin, while still in use today by some, were some of the first modalities to provide care. Early observations by Goeckerman and Ingram demonstrated the benefit of combining these topical treatments with ultraviolet B light to allow for enhanced efficacy. In the 1970s both methotrexate and PUVA photochemotherapy were developed, allowing for the outpatient care of psoriasis. Systemic and topical retinoids followed, as did narrowband UVB. It was however, the serendipitous discovery of the benefit of cyclosporine that truly allowed us to understand the importance of the immune system in this disease. Drugs first targeting T cells were then followed by those targeting TNF, and now more recently those targeting IL17 and IL23. With each new achievement in the understanding of psoriasis, the ability to more finely target the abnormalities of the immune system has improved, and with that, the efficacy of our newest agents has greatly expanded.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
The Bible Book of Leviticus, chapters 13 and 14.
- 2.
Arikha, N (2007) Passions and Tempers. Harper Perennial, New York. Also Crissey, JT, Parish, LC, Stelley, WB (1981) The Dermatology and Syphilology of the Nineteenth Century. Praeger Scientific, New York, pp. 4–5.
- 3.
Pusey WA (1933) History of Dermatology. Charles C. Thomas, Baltimore, pp 11–17.
- 4.
Pusey WA (1933) History of Dermatology. Charles C. Thomas, Baltimore, pp 19–25.
- 5.
Pusey WA (1933) History of Dermatology. Charles C. Thomas, Baltimore, p. 28.
- 6.
Sixteenth Century Physician and his Methods: Mercurialis on Diseases of the Skin. Translated from De Morbis Cutaneis et Omnibus Corporis Humani Excrementis Tractatus, by Sutton RL Jr (1986) The Lowel Press,Kansas City, Missouri.
- 7.
Pusey WA (1933) History of Dermatology. Charles C. Thomas, Baltimore, pp62ff.
- 8.
Pusey WA (1933) History of Dermatology. Charles C. Thomas, Baltimore, pp 81–82.
- 9.
Crissey JT, Parish LC, Shelley WB (1981) The dermatology and syphilology of the nineteenth century. Praiger Publishers, New York, pp 367–369.
- 10.
Farber M, “History of the treatment of psoriasis,” J Amer Acad Dermaol 1992; 27: 640–5.
- 11.
Bechet PE, “History of the use of arsenic in dermatology,” Arch Dermatol 1931; 23: 110–7.
- 12.
Farber EM, “History of the treatment of psoriasis,” J Amer Acad Dermatol 1992; 27: 640–5.
- 13.
Unna PG” Cignolin als Heilmittel der psoriasis,” Dermatol Wochenschr 1916; 62: 116–86. Fry L,” Psoriasis,” 1988; 119: 445–561.
- 14.
Ingram JT, “The Approach to Psoriasis,” Br Med J 1953; 2: 591–594.
- 15.
Goeckerman WH, “Treatment of Psoriasis,” Northwest Med 1925; 24: 229.
- 16.
Sulzberger MB, Witten VH, “The Effect of topically applied coumpound F in select dermatoses,” J Invest Dermatol 1952; 19: 101.
- 17.
Guber R, August S, Ginsbergerg V,” Therapeutic suppression of tissue reactivity; effect of aminopterin in Rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis,” Am J Med Sci 1951; 221: 176–182.
- 18.
Edmondson W, Guy WB, “Treatment of psoriasis with folic acid antagonist,” Arch Dermatol 1958; 78(2) 200–203.
- 19.
Roenigk HH Jr, Maibach HI, Weinstein G, “Guidelines in methotrexate therapy for psoriasis,” Arch Dermatol 1972; 105: 363–365.
- 20.
Gupta AK, Anderson TF, “Psoralen photochemotherapy,” 1987; 17: 703–34.
- 21.
Parrish Jam Fitzpatrick TB, Tanenbaum L, Pathak M, “Photochemotherapy of psoriasis with oral methoxsalen and longwave ultraviolet light,” New Engl J Med 1974; 291: 1207–1211.
- 22.
Stern RS, Thibodeau LA, Kleinerman RA, Parrish JA, Fitzpatrick TB, et al, “Risk of Cutaneous Carcinoma in patients treated with oral methoxsalen photochemotherapy for psoriasis,” New Engl J Med 1979; 300: 809–813.
- 23.
Stern RS, Lange R, et al, “Non-melanoma Skin Cancer Occurring in patients treated with PUVA Five to Ten Years after First Treatment, J Invest Dermatol 1988; 91: 120–124.
- 24.
Parrish JA, Jacnicke KF, “Action Sprectrum for phototherapy of Psoriasis,” J Invest Dermatol 1981; 76(5): 359–62.
- 25.
Green C, Ferguson J, Lakshmipathi T, Johnson BE,” 311 nm UVB phototherapy-an effective treatment for psoriasis,” Br J Dermatol 1988; 119: 691–6.
- 26.
Ellis CN, Voorhees JJ, “Etretinate therapy,” J Amer Acad Dermatol, 1987; 16: 267–91.
- 27.
Kragballe K, Beck HI, Sogaard H, “Improvement of psoriasis by a topical Vitamin D3 analogue (MC 903) in a double-blind study,” Br J Dermatol 1988; 119(2): 223–230.
- 28.
Mueller W, Hermann B, “Cyclosporin A for psoriasis,” New Engl J Med 1979; 301 (10): 555.
- 29.
Griffiths CEM, DUBrtret L, Ellis CN, et al, “CIclosporin in psoriasis clinical practice: an international consensus statement,” Br J Dermatol 2004; 150 (Suppl 67): 11–23.
- 30.
Ellis CN, Krueger GG, “Alefacept Study Group. Treatment of CHorinc Plaque Psoriasis by selective targeting of memory effector T lymphocytes,” New Engl J Med 2001; 345(4): 248–25.
- 31.
Gordon KB, Papp KA, Hamilton TK, et al, “Efalizumab for patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis: a randomized controlled trial“JAMA 2003; 290 (23): 3073–80.
- 32.
Menter A, Tyring SK, Gordon K, et al, “Adalimumab therapy for moderate to severe psoriasis: a randomized, controlled phase 3 trial,” J Amer Acad Dermatol 2007; 58: 106–15.
- 33.
Leonardi CL, Powers JL, Matheson RT, et al, “Etanercept Psoriasis Study group: Etanercept as monotherapy in patients with psoriasis,” New Engl J Med 2003; 349 (21): 2014–22.
- 34.
Chaudri U, Romano P, Mulcahy LD, et al,” Efficacy and safety of infliximab monotherapy for plaque-type psoriasis: a randomized trial,” Lancet 2001; 357 (9271): 1842–7.
- 35.
Krueger GG, Langley RG, Leonardi C, et al, “A Human interleukin-12/23 monoclonal antibody for the treatment of psoriasis,” New Engl J Med 2007; 356: 580–92.
- 36.
LangleyRG, Elewski BE, Lebwohl M, et al, “Secukinumab in plaque psoriasis-results of two phase 3 trials,” NEJM 2014; 371(4): 326–338.
- 37.
Gordon KB, Blauvelt A, Papp KA, et al, “Phase 3 trials of Ixekizumab in Moderate to Severe Psoriasis,” NEJM 2016; 375(4): 345–356.
- 38.
Lebwohl M, Strober B, Menter A, et al, “Phase 3 studies comparing Brodalumab with Ustekinumab in Psoriasis“NEJM 2015; 373: 1318–1328.
- 39.
Reich K, Armstrong AW, Foley P, et al, “Efficacy and Safety of guselkumab, an anti-interleukin-23 monoclonal antibody compared with adalimumab for the treatment of patients with moderate to severe psoriasis with randomized withdrawal and retreatment: results from the phase 3, double-blind, placebo- and active comparator-controlled Voyage 2 trial,” J Amer Acad Dermatol 2017; 76(3): 418–431.
- 40.
Gordon KB, Strober B, Lebwohl M, “Efficacy and Safety of Risankizumab in Moderate to Severe plaque psoriasis (UltiMMa-1 and UltiMMa-2): results from two double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled and ustekinumab-controlled phase 3 trials,” Lancet 2018; 39: 650–661.
Disclosures
John B. Cameron Ph.D.—none
Abby S. Van Voorhees, MD—She has served as a consultant for the following companies:
Derm Tech, WebMD, Novartis, Lilly, UCB, Celgene. —She has served as an investigator for Celgene, Lilly, AbbVie.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cameron, J.B., Van Voorhees, A.S. (2021). Introduction to and History of Psoriasis and Psoriasis Therapy. In: Weinberg, J.M., Lebwohl, M. (eds) Advances in Psoriasis. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54859-9_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54859-9_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-54858-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-54859-9
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)