From the academy
Guidelines of care for the management of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis: Section 4. Guidelines of care for the management and treatment of psoriasis with traditional systemic agents

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2009.03.027Get rights and content

Psoriasis is a common, chronic, inflammatory, multisystem disease with predominantly skin and joint manifestations affecting approximately 2% of the population. In this fourth of 6 sections of the guidelines of care for psoriasis, we discuss the use of traditional systemic medications for the treatment of patients with psoriasis. Treatment should be tailored to meet individual patients' needs. We will discuss in detail the efficacy and safety, and offer recommendations for the use of the 3 most commonly used, and approved, traditional systemic agents: methotrexate, cyclosporine, and acitretin. We will also briefly discuss the available data for the use of azathioprine, fumaric acid esters, hydroxyurea, leflunomide, mycophenolate mofetil, sulfasalazine, tacrolimus, and 6-thioguanine in psoriasis.

Abbreviations used

AAD
American Academy of Dermatology
AST
aspartate aminotransferase
BUN
serum urea nitrogen
CBC
complete blood cell
CSA
cyclosporine
FDA
Food and Drug Administration
MMF
mycophenolate mofetil
PASI
Psoriasis Area and Severity Index
PPD
purified protein derivative
PUVA
psoralen plus ultraviolet A
SCC
squamous cell carcinoma
TB
tuberculosis
UV
ultraviolet

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