Scientists from the University of Michigan have reported that a compound called benzodiazepine-423 (Bz-423) suppresses growth of cells in a model of psoriasis.

This study available online in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics suggested that Bz-423, which is known to minimize harmful side effects of the autoimmune disease lupus, can also be effective in treating psoriasis.

From News-Medical.Net:

“Currently, the best treatments for skin lesions associated with psoriasis are topical steroids, but the problem with those drugs is that they’re not selective for the disease-causing cells. They affect normal cells as well, and repeated use over time can lead to tissue destruction,” said Gary Glick, who is the Werner E. Bachmann Collegiate Professor of Chemistry and a professor of biological chemistry in the U-M Medical School. “There are also protein drugs approved for use in treating psoriasis, but those drugs are injected instead of applied topically, which makes them more costly, less convenient and more likely to cause side effects since they are delivered throughout the body.”

“What makes our compound particularly exciting is that it has the potential to be applied topically, and it shows very good selectivity for models of the disease-causing cells versus normal cells,” Glick said. “So we believe the problems associated with repeated topical steroid use could possibly be alleviated with compounds like this.”

This study was led by Gary Glick, who is the Werner E. Bachmann Collegiate Professor of Chemistry and a professor of biological chemistry in the U-M Medical School. Glick’s coauthors on the paper were James Varani, professor of pathology; Narasimharao Bhagavathula, a research investigator in the pathology department; Hilary Scherzer and Kevin Fay, research associates in pathology; Kent Johnson, professor of pathology; Sewon Kang, professor of dermatology; and Anthony Opipari, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology.

Tags: lupus, psoriasis, steroids, topical steroids

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