DeCure's autonomous Dermatology AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for parapsoriasis — screening already-approved drugs against its 2-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleParapsoriasis maps to a 2-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for parapsoriasis is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
interleukin 17A (IL17A) — IL17A is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet 9's,17'rdrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 5HI4 · 1.8 Å · ligand (9'S,17'R)-6'-chloro-N-methyl-9'-{[(1-methyl-1H-pyrazol-5-yl)carbonyl]amino}-10',19'-dioxo-2'-oxa-11',18'-diazaspiro[cyclopentane-1,21'-tetracyclo[20.2.2.2~12,15~.1~3,7~]nonacosane]-1'(24'),3'(29'),4',6',12',14',22',25',27'-nonaene-17'-carboxamide (63P). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
In 1952, a group of investigators reported that a patient with guttate parapsoriasis who had cleared completely after Florida sunlight relapsed upon returning to New York. Based on that observation, they tried vitamin D₂ (calciferol) in that patient and three others. Two of those patients were presented at a dermatology meeting in February 1949. The abstract gives no response rates, no survival data, and no numerical outcomes for the four patients; it states only that the two presented were “successfully treated.” The authors acknowledged that chronicity despite treatment is characteristic of all varieties of parapsoriasis, and that any therapy that might favourably alter that chronic course is worth trying.
Two earlier case reports, from 1940 and 1933, describe individual patients with parapsoriasis but offer no treatment results. The 1940 case is a 38-year-old woman with symmetric, non-itchy, scaly macules on arms, thighs and ankles; histology confirmed the clinical diagnosis. The 1933 case is a 4-year-old girl with an extensive coppery-brown maculopapular eruption that had resisted treatment for one year; the presenter noted that some textbooks then claimed parapsoriasis did not occur under age 12.
The evidence for calciferol in parapsoriasis rests entirely on a single uncontrolled series of four patients from 1948–1949, with no quantitative outcomes reported. No randomised trial, no comparator group, no long-term follow-up data, and no information on which patients might respond or why. What is missing is any modern trial with objective endpoints, adequate sample size, and a control arm, as well as funding to conduct such a study and a clear stratification of parapsoriasis subtypes.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
A M A Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology · 1952 · 14 citations
PARAPSORIASIS: ITS TREATMENT WITH CALCIFEROL
AbstractCHRONICITY in spite of treatment is a characteristic of all varieties of parapsoriasis. Therefore, any method of therapy which may favorably alter its chronic course is worthy of trial. In September, 1948, in the dermatologic service of the late Dr. J. Gardner Hopkins at the Veterans Administration Hospital, Bronx, N. Y., my colleagues and I saw a patient with parapsoriasis of the guttate type, who, after exposure to Florida sunlight, made a complete recovery but had a relapse on his return to New York. Because of this experience, it was thought that vitamin D<sub>2</sub>therapy might be of value in this disease. This patient and another, successfully treated with calciferol, were presented at a meeting of the Manhattan Dermatologic Society on Feb. 8, 1949. Descriptions of these two patients and two additional ones were published in a preliminary report.<sup>1</sup> Prior to our observations and independently of them, Barber
Abstract<h3>Parapsoriasis. Presented by Dr. Fred Wise.</h3> F. B., a woman aged 38, under the care of Dr. Frances Pascher at the Skin and Cancer Unit of the New York Post-Graduate Medical School and Hospital, presents an eruption which first appeared in April 1937 on the inner aspect of both arms, with a gradual increase in the number of lesions. Lesions on the thighs and ankles appeared shortly after. Symmetric involvement of the upper and lower extremities has been a striking feature since the start. The lesions are round and oval, noninfiltrated, lentil-sized to pea-sized, pinkish macules, covered with scales. Those on the inner aspect of the arms, near the axillas, are most pronounced. They do not itch. The histologic examination by Dr. David L. Satenstein confirmed the clinical diagnosis of parapsoriasis. Since the onset there has been no change in the character of the lesions, and none of them have
AbstractParapsoriasisGuttate. Presented byDr.H. F.De Wolf. D. J., a white girl, 4 years of age, from the service of Dr. H. N. Cole and Dr. J. R. Driver at Cleveland City Hospital, presented an extensive maculopapular eruption consisting of lesions varying in diameter from 2 mm. to 1 cm. They were markedly scaly and a coppery brown. There were no subjective symptoms. The eruption was of one year's duration and had resisted treatment. DISCUSSION Dr.H. F.De Wolf: We presented the case because some textbooks state that parapsoriasis does not occur in persons under 12 years of age. BullousPurpura. Presented byDr.H. G.Miskjian. M. A., a white woman, an Italian, aged 52, from the service of Dr. H. N. Cole and Dr. J. R. Driver at Lakeside Hospital, presented an eruption on the legs of two months' duration. She had not taken any
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
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