What Are the Treatments for Recalcitrant Psoriasis Vulgaris?
Psoriasis vulgaris is the medical term for plaque psoriasis, the most common type of psoriasis. This is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder characterized by thick red patches that turn silvery and scaly. Recalcitrant psoriasis describes psoriasis that does not respond to the usual treatments.
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Usual Treatments
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Plaque psoriasis often is effectively treated with topical steroids, light therapy, oral retinoids or immunosuppressant drugs such as cyclosporine.
Biologic Drugs
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Biologic drugs are showing promise for treating recalcitrant psoriasis. They also are preferred over immunosuppressant drugs, because biologics target only specific parts of the immune system.
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Remicade
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The biologic infliximab (Remicade) is a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blocker shown to be effective at treating plaque psoriasis. A study on infliximab published in the May 2003 issue of the Australasian Journal of Dermatology, for instance, found "marked efficacy" for treating recalcitrant plaque psoriasis.
Related Drugs
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Other TNF blockers used for treating recalcitrant psoriasis vulgaris include etanercept (Enbrel) and adalimumab (Humira).
T-Cell Blockers
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Another type of biologic, alefacept (Amevive), blocks the activation of white-blood cells called T cells, which helps reduce psoriasis inflammation.
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