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Mechanism of Coal Tar Treatment for Psoriasis

J Dermatolog Treat; ePub 2017 Sep 19; Sekhon, et al

Publish date:: October 18, 2017

Polycyclic aryl hydrocarbons, and specifically carbazole, are thought to be the mechanism by which crude coal tar has its effect in psoriasis, according to a recent investigation. A literature search was conducted on March 13, 2017, for relevant English language journal articles on the subject. Investigators found:

Crude coal tar consists of thousands of ingredients, many of which are unidentified.
Of these ingredients, the most research has gone into analyzing polycyclic aryl hydrocarbons, which are thought to be the most likely component of crude coal tar that leads to its effects in psoriasis.
Of the aryl hydrocarbons, carbazole has been the most well studied in psoriasis and is hypothesized as being responsible for the treatment efficacy of crude coal tar.

Citation:

Sekhon S, Jeon C, Nakamura M, et al. Review of the mechanism of action of coal tar in psoriasis. [Published online ahead of print September 19, 2017]. J Dermatolog Treat. doi:10.1080/09546634.2017.1369494.

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