Psoriasis, which is a chronic disease characterized by the development of red, scaly, raised skin lesions, affects approximately 2% of the population of countries of the Western world. A new study by Lynette Fouser and colleagues at Wyeth Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, has provided evidence that the soluble molecule IL-22 is central to the development of disease in a mouse model of psoriasis. Antibodies that neutralized IL-22 were found to prevent the development of psoriasis-like disease, reducing thickening of the skin, inflammatory infiltrates, and expression of Th17 cytokines. Conversely administration of IL-22 into the skin of normal mice induced the expression of genes associated with the development of psoriasis-like skin lesions. These data led the authors to suggest that antagonizing IL-22 might provide a new approach to treating individuals with psoriasis.
