Jeffrey M. Weinberg – författare

It has become increasingly clear that psoriatic disease, both of the skin and joints, can be a significant diagnostic and therapeutic challenge for the physician and a debilitating illness for the patient. Genetic and immunologic advances have increased our understanding of the pathophysiology of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis and there is a need for practically oriented evidence based references to describe the management options open to clinicians. The speed at which developments are occurring in the field also necessitates a novel approach to keeping up with these changes in practice and the need is for a reference that that be updated regularly as the subject requires.Psoriasis is an incredibly fast-moving discipline within dermatology. Guidelines, treatment options and management all change at incredible speed. There is a requirement to provide a comprehensive reference resource to provide practical, user friendly information for the dermatology profession to aid in the decision-making process.Psoriasis is a graphical subdiscipline of medicine and therefore this will have copious illustrations. As a fast moving discipline the emphasis must be on annual updates to ensure that readers are kept up to date on the important areas of development.

The understanding of the mechanisms behind the disease and the available treatment options have continued to develop rapidly in recent times, with this vital resource covering the latest in these management options, including targeted T-cell therapy, the use of immunomodulators, systemic therapies, and ultraviolet and laser therapy.

The understanding of the mechanisms behind the disease and the available treatment options have continued to develop rapidly in recent times, with this vital resource covering the latest in these management options, including targeted T-cell therapy, the use of immunomodulators, systemic therapies, and ultraviolet and laser therapy.

Over the last decade, the advent of biologic agents has greatly revolutionized therapeutic medicine in the management of chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and psoriasis. Elucidation of the complex web of cytokine network and the roles of these cytokines in the pat- genesis of inflammatory disorders provided one of the key catalysts for the advancement of targeted biologic therapy in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. TNF-? is known to play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of many chronic inflammatory diseases. Elevated levels of TNF-? have been demonstrated in Crohn’s disease, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis, sugge- ing a role for TNF-? in their pathogenesis. Although TNF-? plays a critical role in the activation of innate and acquired immune responses, the persistence of the immune response and inappropriate production of TNF-? can produce pathological changes resulting from chronic inflammation and tissue damage. The purpose of this volume is to provide a comprehensive overview of the development, pharmacology, efficacy, and safety of the currently available TNF-? inhibitors – etanercept, infliximab, and adalimumab. The initial three chapters of the volume provide a background on the field on TNF-? and its inhibition. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to TNF and reviews the pathophysiology of this cytokine. Chapter 2 then presents the h- tory of the development of TNF inhibitors. The pharmacology of these agents is reviewed in Chapter 3.