Nanotechnology advances for psoriasis treatment and future prospects

Psoriasis is a chronic, immune-mediated disorder with strong genetic susceptibility and environmental triggers, characterized by excessive proliferation of keratinocytes and recruitment of inflammatory cells. Affecting 2-3% of the global population and represents a significant public health challenge. In psoriasis, the skin barrier is altered rather than uniformly enhanced, and its permeability varies with drug types and disease states, which may affect the effective delivery of drugs to affected areas. Nanotechnology demonstrates potential in drug delivery, protecting drug molecules from degradation, enabling targeted therapy, and reducing side effects, thereby improving pharmacokinetics and enhancing the bioavailability of therapeutic agents. This review specifically examines the emergence of multimodal nanotherapeutic approaches, which defined as the strategic integration of two or more distinct therapeutic modalities (e.g., pharmacotherapy paired with phototherapy, gene editing, or RNA interference) within a unified nanocarrier platform to achieve synergistic efficacy. By systematically evaluating these advanced combinatory strategies, this review provides a distinct perspective compared to existing literature, which predominantly focuses on conventional, single-mode drug delivery systems. To this end, it reviews nanotechnology combined with multiple therapies and introduces the current advantages and disadvantages of integrating nanotechnology with conventional anti-psoriatic drugs Finally, it presents the challenges and prospects of using nanotechnology to treat psoriasis and provides reliable solutions for its clinical management. Overall, this review advances psoriasis treatment toward precision and efficiency, revealing the broad prospects of nanomedicine in conquering this intractable disease.