These drugs for the treatment of psoriasis were discovered "accidentally".

1.

Anthracene forest.

Anthracene was extracted from Arabic pectin powder growing in Bahia province, Brazil.

At that time, India imported this "powder" from Brazil and was used to treat ringworm for centuries.

In 1876, a Balmano squire who mistook psoriasis for ringworm used this powder to treat his "annular" psoriasis and achieved good results.

Subsequently, the active ingredient in the powder was identified as inulin, from which the first synthetic preparation anthracene was derived until 1916 when Galewsky confirmed that anthracene was an effective topical drug for the treatment of psoriasis and has been in clinical use ever since.

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Vitamin D3 analogue.

In 1985, Morimoto and Kumahara reported an 81-year-old man with osteoporosis and generalized psoriasis who received only oral administration of 1 α-hydroxyvitamin D3 0.75mg / day, without other local or systemic treatment, and the psoriatic lesions disappeared within 2 months.

They then published a study in the British Journal of Dermatology on vitamin D3 in the treatment of psoriasis.

Nowadays, more vitamin D3 derivatives, such as carpotriol and tacasil, are used in clinic, which is not only effective for psoriasis, but also effective for vitiligo.

3.

methotrexate.

In 1951, Gubner et al accidentally found that psoriasis was significantly relieved after patients with rheumatoid arthritis were treated with methotrexate (a drug closely related to methotrexate).

Then, in a study, 13 patients with psoriasis were given oral methotrexate. All patients had good treatment responses, but all had varying degrees of adverse effects.

Later, methotrexate began to be used in the treatment of psoriasis, its mechanism is the same as methotrexate, folic acid antagonists, but more effective and less toxic.

At present, it is still in clinical use, especially suitable for the treatment of articular psoriasis.

4.

Cyclosporin.

Cyclosporin A (CSA) is a drug with immunosuppressive properties. It was first isolated from fungal Tolypocladium inflatum obtained from soil samples of Harden Plateau in Norway by Dr. Hans Peter Frey, a scientist of Sandoz, in 1969. It was found to have immunosuppressive effect in 1972.

Later, in a preliminary study of CSA in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, four patients with psoriatic arthritis almost completely removed the original psoriatic lesions within one week of taking CSA, but gradually returned to their original severity within 2 weeks after the cessation of CSA.

5.

Chondroitin sulfate.

Chondroitin sulfate is a natural glycosaminoglycan, which is often used in the treatment of osteoarthritis.

Joseph Verges observed that in patients with osteoarthritis with psoriasis, psoriatic plaque improved significantly within a few days after chondroitin sulfate treatment, although the drug was later used to treat psoriasis, but the efficacy varied widely among individuals.

6.

Gemcitabine and cisplatin.

In 2008, Cagiano et al found that psoriasis in the fingernails and scalp of a 55-year-old man with metastatic lung cancer disappeared completely after two weeks of gemcitabine and cisplatin treatment, and there was no recurrence of psoriasis after follow-up for 3 months.

7.

Mycophenolate mofetil.

In order to determine the cause of nicotinic acid deficiency, Bartolomeo Gosio isolated a phenol-like crystallization product named mycophenolic acid 0 (1913) from molds growing on spoiled corn. It was found to be an antibacterial agent of anthrax, but it was found to be too toxic in clinic.

It can stop purine synthesis by non-competitive inhibition of inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase. Its morpholine ethyl ester mycophenolate mofetil can enhance the bioavailability of oral administration and can be used as an immunosuppressant in transplantation and psoriasis.

"chance" in hair diseases.

Some drugs that affect human hair growth are discovered by accident, including drugs for alopecia and hirsutism, such as minoxidil, finasteride, cyclosporine and bemeprost for different types of hair loss; eflornithine, glitazone and spironolactone are used as hair removal agents and hirsutism.

1.

Minoxidil.

Oral minoxidil was originally used to treat high blood pressure.

The principle is to lower blood pressure by acting as a nitric oxide agonist and potassium channel opener.

In 1977, five female patients used the drug to treat high blood pressure. Hirsutism, which seriously affected cosmetology, occurred during the use of the drug, and patients had to use hair removal agents to remove excess hair.

Subsequently, patients treated with minoxidil were found to have alopecia (manic alopecia), and it was not until 1981 that the drug was identified for the treatment of alopecia areata and androgenic alopecia.

Minoxidil is the first topical drug approved by FDA in the United States for the treatment of alopecia. It has become one of the most widely used drugs for hair loss, especially androgenic alopecia.

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Finasteride.

Finasteride is a type 2 5 α-reductase inhibitor.

In 1992, FDA approved the drug (daily 5mg) for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

During the medication, it was accidentally found that patients with androgenic hair loss using this drug had grown hair; further studies have shown that the drug can reduce the original level of dihydrotestosterone in the scalp by about 69%, thereby reducing the damage to hair follicles and promoting hair growth.

In 1997, FDA approved daily 1mg finasteride for the treatment of androgenic alopecia in men.

It is still a first-line drug for the clinical treatment of androgenic alopecia.

3.

Cyclosporin.

Long-term use of cyclosporine can lead to hirsutism in renal transplant patients.

It is speculated that cyclosporine inhibits the activation of helper T cells that may be pathogenic in alopecia areata and prolongs the growth period of hair.

Then the nude mice with transplanted human hair were tested and it was found that topical application of cyclosporine could slow down the hair loss.