{"id":178815,"date":"2025-06-24T10:08:30","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T08:08:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/farvel-til-fedtet-creme-plastre-paa-vej-til-psoriasispatienter\/"},"modified":"2025-06-26T09:16:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T07:16:16","slug":"skin-deep-innovation-psoriasis-patients-can-soon-ditch-the-cream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/skin-deep-innovation-psoriasis-patients-can-soon-ditch-the-cream\/","title":{"rendered":"Skin deep innovation: Psoriasis patients can soon ditch the cream"},"content":{"rendered":"

The current treatment for plaque psoriasis \u2014 the most common variety of the psoriasis<\/span> skin disease \u2014 consists of a variety of creams with different active ingredients that need to be applied to the skin morning and evening. The creams can be unpleasant and cumbersome to use, and they tend to stick to clothing.<\/p>\n

The treatment is purely symptomatic.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt doesn\u2019t address the root causes of the disease, and when patients face a lifetime of applying these creams, it helps explain why a third of them stop using them,\u00ab says Associate Professor Andrea Heinz from the Department of Pharmacy at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.<\/p>\n

Even during periods when the skin condition does not manifest as rashes and itchy patches, psoriasis patients need to apply the creams for the treatment to be effective.<\/p>\n

But Andrea Heinz and her PhD student Anna-Lena G\u00fcrtler have recently developed an alternative. Using a medicated patch, some psoriasis patients may be able to ditch the creams and improve their quality of life.<\/p>\n

It is crucial that the treatment be as effective as possible, as the condition typically lasts a lifetime, being caused by an autoimmune reaction in the body.<\/p>\n

Two types of medicine combined<\/h4>\n

Andrea Heinz has been researching skin diseases for 15 years and has long been fascinated by the structure of the skin \u2014 how it ages and the diseases it can develop.<\/p>\n

The idea for the patch came to her in 2022 together with Anna-Lena G\u00fcrtler, who at the time was working on her own PhD project building on an earlier PhD project about wound healing in Andrea Heinz\u2019s research group.<\/p>\n

\n

how it works<\/p>\n

The patch consists of three layers of polymer, with active ingredients in two of them. Salicylic acid first softens and removes the plaques (scabs) on the affected areas. Later, hydrocortisone is released, which is anti-inflammatory and reduces the reaction in the skin.<\/p>\n

Their experience with spinning the polymer fibres is described in an article published in RSC Pharmaceutics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Andrea Heinz has led the project for three years, and the main challenge for her and Anna-Lena G\u00fcrtler was to ensure that a patch could release two types of medication at different speeds in a stable way over three days.<\/p>\n

The solution involved integrating the medication into a specially selected polymer<\/span> that dissolves slowly over several days.<\/p>\n

The two researchers have demonstrated in a series of experiments that the patches are effective. They placed them in a solution that mimics human tissue to study how the active substances are released over time. They also tested the patches on both pig and human skin samples obtained from surgeries.<\/p>\n

The results were encouraging: The patch releases the active ingredients in the right amounts and at the correct pace.<\/p>\n

\u00bbI\u2019m very proud of my PhD student. Anna-Lena G\u00fcrtler did all the lab work and succeeded in making a polymer-based patch that actually works. It\u2019s great when research results in something that functions \u2014 because sometimes research is just coming up with ideas that don\u2019t work,\u00ab says Andrea Heinz, who, as supervisor, helped plan the experiments, describe them, and interpret the results.
\n
\nAccording to Andrea Heinz, three to four per cent of Danes are affected by psoriasis. The disease is most common among those of European descent, but is prevalent worldwide. And while many patients could benefit from the new patch, it also has its limitations.<\/p>\n

\u00bbOur patch will be best suited for people with plaque psoriasis and limited outbreaks. In practice, it\u2019s impossible to apply a patch to the entire back or most of the body in those who are most severely affected,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n

The market will have to wait<\/h4>\n

Andrea Heinz has already received responses from around 20 patients who contacted her after hearing about the patch. They expressed interest in trying it and in making themselves available for clinical trials. She is grateful for this.<\/p>\n

\u00bbTheir messages really give my work meaning, because I personally don\u2019t feel it\u2019s enough to just sit in my office. I always want to talk to people and hear about their experiences and needs,\u00ab says Andrea Heinz.<\/p>\n

She is pleased with how far the development of the patch has come, but unfortunately, it may still be many years before psoriasis patients will be able to buy it at the chemist.<\/p>\n

\u00bbWe now have a prototype of the patch \u2014 just a few samples in the lab. The next step is to get the pharmaceutical industry on board with the idea. If that succeeds, we\u2019ll start trials on live animals, followed by human testing. And clinical studies take time. It will be maybe 10 to 15 years before it can be sold on the pharmaceutical market,\u00ab says Andrea Heinz.
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If University of Copenhagen’s 38,000 students are representative, 1,300 of them have the skin condition plaque psoriasis. A lot of people have it, but current treatments are impractical. Two UCPH researchers have developed a clever alternative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":178563,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-178815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","expression-news_article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nSkin deep innovation: Psoriasis patients can soon ditch the cream \u2014 University Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A medicated patch with two types of drugs has shown in lab tests that it can treat plaque psoriasis while worn on the skin 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Professor Andrea Heinz does research on skin diseases."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"Innovation","text":"Hvis KU's 38.000 studerende er repr\u00e6sentative for den danske befolkning, har 1.300 hudsygdommen plaque psoriasis. Den nuv\u00e6rende behandlingsform er besv\u00e6rlig, men to forskere har udviklet et medicinsk plaster, der kan h\u00f8jne livskvaliteten.","use_post_excerpt":true},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>The current treatment for <span class=\"secrettext\" data-face=\"plaque psoriasis\" data-text=\"Plaque psoriasis is one of several types of psoriasis\">plaque psoriasis \u2014 the most common variety of the psoriasis<\/span> skin disease \u2014 consists of a variety of creams with different active ingredients that need to be applied to the skin morning and evening. The creams can be unpleasant and cumbersome to use, and they tend to stick to clothing.<\/p>\n<p>The treatment is purely symptomatic.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt doesn\u2019t address the root causes of the disease, and when patients face a lifetime of applying these creams, it helps explain why a third of them stop using them,\u00ab says Associate Professor Andrea Heinz from the Department of Pharmacy at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.<\/p>\n<p>Even during periods when the skin condition does not manifest as rashes and itchy patches, psoriasis patients need to apply the creams for the treatment to be effective.<\/p>\n<p>But Andrea Heinz and her PhD student Anna-Lena G\u00fcrtler have recently developed an alternative. Using a medicated patch, some psoriasis patients may be able to ditch the creams and improve their quality of life.<\/p>\n<p>It is crucial that the treatment be as effective as possible, as the condition typically lasts a lifetime, being caused by an autoimmune reaction in the body.<\/p>\n<h4>Two types of medicine combined<\/h4>\n<p>Andrea Heinz has been researching skin diseases for 15 years and has long been fascinated by the structure of the skin \u2014 how it ages and the diseases it can develop.<\/p>\n<p>The idea for the patch came to her in 2022 together with Anna-Lena G\u00fcrtler, who at the time was working on her own PhD project building on an earlier PhD project about wound healing in Andrea Heinz\u2019s research group.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">how it works<\/p>\n<p>The patch consists of three layers of polymer, with active ingredients in two of them. Salicylic acid first softens and removes the plaques (scabs) on the affected areas. Later, hydrocortisone is released, which is anti-inflammatory and reduces the reaction in the skin.<\/p>\n<p>Their experience with spinning the polymer fibres is described in an article <a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.rsc.org\/en\/content\/articlelanding\/2024\/pm\/d4pm00147h\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">published in RSC Pharmaceutics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Andrea Heinz has led the project for three years, and the main challenge for her and Anna-Lena G\u00fcrtler was to ensure that a patch could release two types of medication at different speeds in a stable way over three days.<\/p>\n<p>The solution involved integrating the medication into a specially selected <span class=\"secrettext\" data-face=\"polymer\" data-text=\"From fibres of polycaprolactone, which is elastic, biodegradable, and skin-compatible\">polymer<\/span> that dissolves slowly over several days.<\/p>\n<p>The two researchers have demonstrated in a series of experiments that the patches are effective. They placed them in a solution that mimics human tissue to study how the active substances are released over time. They also tested the patches on both pig and human skin samples obtained from surgeries.<\/p>\n<p>The results were encouraging: The patch releases the active ingredients in the right amounts and at the correct pace.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI\u2019m very proud of my PhD student. Anna-Lena G\u00fcrtler did all the lab work and succeeded in making a polymer-based patch that actually works. It\u2019s great when research results in something that functions \u2014 because sometimes research is just coming up with ideas that don\u2019t work,\u00ab says Andrea Heinz, who, as supervisor, helped plan the experiments, describe them, and interpret the results.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":178566,"id":178566,"title":"Andrea Heinz og Anna-Lena G\u00fcrtler l\u00e6ger og forskere i hudsygdomme, medicin","filename":"annalenagurtlerogandreaheinz02_web.jpg","filesize":413167,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/annalenagurtlerogandreaheinz02_web.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/farvel-til-fedtet-creme-plastre-paa-vej-til-psoriasispatienter\/anna-lena-guertler-og-andrea-heinz02_web\/","alt":"","author":"8","description":"","caption":"Andrea Heinz og Anna-Lena G\u00fcrtler (th) foran maskinen, der har spundet polymerer til plastrene p\u00e5 en m\u00e5de, der frigiver medicin i rette dosis og hastighed. ","name":"anna-lena-guertler-og-andrea-heinz02_web","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":177843,"date":"2025-06-22 19:25:28","modified":"2025-10-16 08:30:27","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2400,"height":1585,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/annalenagurtlerogandreaheinz02_web-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/annalenagurtlerogandreaheinz02_web-480x317.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":317,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/annalenagurtlerogandreaheinz02_web-768x507.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":507,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/annalenagurtlerogandreaheinz02_web-1280x845.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":845,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/annalenagurtlerogandreaheinz02_web-1536x1014.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1014,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/annalenagurtlerogandreaheinz02_web-2048x1353.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1353,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/annalenagurtlerogandreaheinz02_web-290x192.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":192,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/annalenagurtlerogandreaheinz02_web-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/annalenagurtlerogandreaheinz02_web-700x462.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":462,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/annalenagurtlerogandreaheinz02_web-990x654.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":654}},"style":"narrow","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"Andrea Heinz and Anna-Lena G\u00fcrtler (right) in front of the machine that spun polymers for the patches in a way that releases medication at the correct dosage and speed."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>According to Andrea Heinz, three to four per cent of Danes are affected by psoriasis. The disease is most common among those of European descent, but is prevalent worldwide. And while many patients could benefit from the new patch, it also has its limitations.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbOur patch will be best suited for people with plaque psoriasis and limited outbreaks. In practice, it\u2019s impossible to apply a patch to the entire back or most of the body in those who are most severely affected,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<h4>The market will have to wait<\/h4>\n<p>Andrea Heinz has already received responses from around 20 patients who contacted her after hearing about the patch. They expressed interest in trying it and in making themselves available for clinical trials. She is grateful for this.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbTheir messages really give my work meaning, because I personally don\u2019t feel it\u2019s enough to just sit in my office. I always want to talk to people and hear about their experiences and needs,\u00ab says Andrea Heinz.<\/p>\n<p>She is pleased with how far the development of the patch has come, but unfortunately, it may still be many years before psoriasis patients will be able to buy it at the chemist.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe now have a prototype of the patch \u2014 just a few samples in the lab. The next step is to get the pharmaceutical industry on board with the idea. If that succeeds, we\u2019ll start trials on live animals, followed by human testing. And clinical studies take time. It will be maybe 10 to 15 years before it can be sold on the pharmaceutical market,\u00ab says Andrea Heinz.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get an email with upcoming events and top stories at the University of Copenhagen","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":46,"name":"Science","slug":"science","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":46,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":831,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":15,"name":"News Article","slug":"news_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":11488,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[{"term_id":5468,"name":"Optional","slug":"optional-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5468,"taxonomy":"translation_priority","description":"","parent":0,"count":672,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/dsc_3800andreasheinztilfacebook-1280x672.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178815"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":178826,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178815\/revisions\/178826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}