The translational revolution and use of biologics in patients with inflammatory skin diseases

Psoriasis and atopic dermatitis (AD) are common inflammatory skin diseases characterized by immune-mediated inflammation and abnormal keratinocyte differentiation. Although T-cell infiltration characterizes both diseases, T-cell polarization differs. Psoriasis is currently the best model for translational medicine because many targeted therapeutics have been developed and testing of targeted therapeutics has cemented psoriasis as IL-23/T(H)17 polarized. In patients with AD, although therapeutic development is approximately a decade behind that in patients with psoriasis, there is now active development and testing of targeted therapeutics against various immune axes (T(H)2, T(H)22, and IL-23/T(H)17). These clinical trials and subsequent molecular analyses using human samples will be able to clarify the relative roles of polar cytokines in patients with AD.