The therapeutic effect of glycyrrhizic acid compound ointment on imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like disease in mice

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 18; no. 8; p. e0290637
• Main Authors: Zhang, Yanwen, Wang, Qian, Sun, Shuangyong, Jiang, Lingyan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Francisco Public Library of Science 29.08.2023; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Acids; Analysis; Antiviral drugs; Biology and Life Sciences; Calcipotriene; Care and treatment; Cytokines; Dermatitis; Diagnosis; Drug dosages; Effectiveness; Erythema; Experiments; Health aspects; Imiquimod; Inflammation; Interleukin 12; Interleukin 17; Interleukin 23; Keratin; Laboratory animals; Medicine and Health Sciences; Monomers; Ointments; Pharmaceuticals; Psoriasis; Research and Analysis Methods; Skin; Skin diseases; Software; Spleen; Splenomegaly; Statistical analysis; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Variance analysis; China; Germany
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290637

Glycyrrhetinic acid, a drug with anti-inflammatory effects, enhanced the activity of antipsoriatic efficacy. In this research, an ointment with glycyrrhetinic acid was prepaired as the major component and several other herbal monomers (astilbin, osthole, and momordin Ic) have antipsoriatic activity as minor components. Then an Imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like mouse model was established and the damaged skin condition of the administered group, the changes in the spleen index and the secretion of inflammatory factors in mouse skin were observed. Calcipotriol ointment was used as a positive control to compare the efficacy. Glycyrrhizic acid compound ointment significantly improved imiquimod-induced psoriasis in mice and reduced the secretion of TNF-α, IL-12, IL-17, and IL-23 in mouse skin, and showed a stronger therapeutic effect than calcipotriol ointment. Calcipotriol ointment did not significantly alleviate imiquimod-induced splenomegaly and did not significantly reduce the expression of IL-17 and IL-23 in mouse skin. Glycyrrhetinic acid compound ointment was more effective than calcipotriol and was dose-dependent in the treatment of imiquimod-induced psoriatic dermatitis in mice. Meanwhile,calcipotriol was not suitable for the treatment of Imiquimod -induced psoriasis-like mice.