Jan. 21 (HealthDay News) -- A molecule may play a major role in the development of psoriasis, offering a new way to treat this chronic skin disease, a study finds.

A team at Wyeth Research, in Cambridge, Mass., found that antibodies that neutralized the IL-22 molecule in mice prevented the development of psoriasis-like lesions. The researchers also found injecting IL-22 into the skin of normal mice activated genes associated with the development of psoriasis-like skin lesions.

These findings, published in the Jan. 17 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, suggest that targeting IL-22 may provide a new approach to treating people with psoriasis, the study authors said.

Psoriasis, which causes red, scaly, raised skin lesions, affects up to 3 percent of the world's population and more than 7.5 million Americans, according to the National Psoriasis Association.

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Investigation, news release, Jan. 17, 2008