ABSTRACT
A wide range of conventional medical therapies have been prescribed to treat psoriasis, from topical therapies to systemic medications, phototherapy, or their combinations. However, most of these therapies have limited efficacy and may cause a number of side effects. Herbal drugs may effectively be used in therapies for psoriasis and are characterized by low cost and a lower incidence of side or toxic effects in comparison with conventional therapies. Moreover, herbal products present great structural diversity and multidirectional mechanisms of action, which is not commonly seen in the case of synthetic compounds. In this chapter, different types of topically and orally used herbal products for the treatment of are described. Some of them are already commercially available on the market, whereas others are promising enough to require further detailed research. Furthermore, the penetration of herbal products through the psoriatic skin barrier, their oral bioavailability, their mechanisms of action, and challenges and perspectives for the treatment of psoriasis by herbal products are discussed.
