PSORTI: reposition antiretroviral (ARV) drugs applying them to auto-inflammatory human pathologies

The goal of the PSORTI project is to reposition antiretroviral (ARV) drugs used to treat HIV, applying them to auto-inflammatory human pathologies, notably psoriasis.

CONTEXT
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory dermatosis that progresses in phases, affecting an estimated 1% to 3% of the worldwide population. The exact mechanisms triggering or maintaining lesions have not been identified at this time. Treatments for this T lymphocyte-mediated autoimmune disease have kept up with physiopathological progress, with the most recent treatments being based on anti-cytokine biotherapies. They present a non-negligible percentage of therapeutic escape cases, as well as concern regarding their tolerance over the medium-term. Therapeutic needs therefore currently remain strong, despite recent progress. Many clinical cases show improvement of psoriatic lesions in patients infected with HIV when beginning antiretroviral treatment, suggesting a direct beneficial effect of antiretroviral drugs on psoriasis.

BENEFITS
The goal of the project is to leverage a clinical study to demonstrate that repositioning Reverse Transcriptase (RT) inhibitors represents a new therapeutic approach for treating psoriasis. Psoriasis serves a model disease that will open the path to treating other auto-inflammatory diseases.

APPLICATIONS
Treatment of human auto-inflammatory pathologies (Psoriasis)