Concurrent treatment of chronic psoriasis and asthma with ustekinumab.

A 56-year-old woman with a 40-year history of guttate flares of psoriasis associated with stress and infection as well as chronic asthma was treated with subcutaneous injections of ustekinumab, repeated after 1 month and then every 3 months. Her psoriasis completely resolved, and her capacity for exercise was markedly increased and asthma maintenance medications were no longer needed. Ustekinumab is a human monoclonal antibody that binds the p40 subunit of IL-12 and IL-23 to limit the progression of the Th1 and Th17 inflammatory immune responses that maintain many autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Th17-related responses drive inflammation during late stages of chronic asthma and can also be blocked by ustekinumab. Blocking the underlying cytokine mediated inflammatory responses for psoriasis with ustekinumab can also treat other chronic inflammatory diseases.