Rue shrubs and sea anemone venom for psoriasis?

Don't get your garden shears and snorkel out just yet, but researchers are hoping that two compounds they have created will one day help treat psoriasis and other immune system diseases. One, known as ShK(L5), is a synthetic version of a component of sea anemone venom. The other, PAP-1, is derived from a shrub, the common rue. Neither has yet been tested in humans.

Both compounds act to block channels that allow potassium ions to flow in or out of cells. These ion channels appear to play an important role in regulating the activity of cells in the immune system and are especially abundant on a type of immune cell implicated in diseases such as multiple sclerosis and psoriasis.

"This could be a completely new mechanism of immune suppression for patients who do not respond to or have side effects from current therapies," said UC Davis' Heike Wulff, assistant professor of medical pharmacology and toxicology.

Wulff is also a founder of a company hoping to commecialze these treatments. If they can help our psoriasis using sea anemone venom, more power to 'em!

(The rue shrub photo is from this website.)