Metabolic effects of FK 506 in patients with severe psoriasis: short-term follow-up of seven cases.

CYCLOSPORINE (CyA) has been shown to be effective in a variety of human autoimmune diseases. including psoriasis, nephrotic syndrome, type I diabetes, and sight-threatening uveitis. 1 Its potential side effects include nephrotoxicity, diabetogenicity, and neurotoxicity. Several studies (see elsewhere in this symposium) have shown that FK 506 prevents or suppresses autoimmune disorders in experimental animals and that it induces rapid remission in severe, recalcitrant, chronic plaqueforming psoriasis.2.3 In this paper, the metabolic effects of FK 506 are reported in seven patients with severe recalcitrant chronic plaque-forming psoriasis treated at the U niversity of Pittsburgh Medical Center with a median study follow-up time of 6 months.