Ultrastructural Changes in Psoriatic Epidermis Following Anthralin Treatment

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The epidermal ultrastructure of psoriatic plaques in 20 adult patients was studied before and after 1 and 3 months of anthralin treatment. A comparison with the epidermis of uninvolved skin in the same patients and with the epidermis of normal skin was made. Ultrastructural changes elicited by anthralin include a reduction in size of the intercellular spaces, a decrease in ribosomes and mitochondria, an increase in tonofilaments and an accumulation of chromatin in the nuclear periphery. Despite these changes, the cells do not attain a completely normal appearance. Knowledge acquired in this investigation has provided a useful basis for similar future studies involving other topical agents.