The Essential Oil Derived from Perilla frutescens (L.) Britt. Attenuates Imiquimod-Induced Psoriasis-like Skin Lesions in BALB/c Mice.

Abstract

Psoriasis is reported to be a common chronic immune-mediated skin disease characterized by abnormal keratinocytes and cell proliferation. Perilla leaves are rich in essential oils, fatty acids, and flavonoids, which are recognized for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, the alleviating effect of essential oil (PO) extracted from Perilla frutescens stems and leaves on imiquimod (IMQ) -induced psoriasis-like lesions in BALB/c mice were investigated. Results showed that PO ameliorated psoriasis-like lesions in vivo, reduced the expression of lymphocyte antigen 6 complex locus G6D (Ly-6G), which is a marker of neutrophil activation, and inhibited the expression of inflammatory factors interleukin 1 (IL-1), interleukin 6 (IL-6), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2). In addition, PO significantly decreased the expression of cytokines such as IL-6, IL-1, interleukin 23 (IL-23), interleukin 17 (IL-17), and nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB). Furthermore, the down-regulation of mRNA levels of psoriasis-related pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-17, interleukin 22 (IL-22), IL-23, interferon-α (IFN-α), and Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) was observed with the treatment of PO. All results show a concentration dependence of PO, with low concentrations showing the best results. These results suggest that PO effectively alleviated psoriasis-like skin lesions and down-regulated inflammatory responses, which indicates that PO could potentially be used for further studies on inflammation-related skin diseases such as psoriasis and for the treatment of psoriasis such as psoriasis natural plant essential oil resources.

• Authors: Yani Xu, Yaohui Shi, Jingxia Huang, Hongtao Gu, Chunlian Li, Lanyue Zhang, Guanting Liu, Wei Zhou, Zhiyun Du
• Journal: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) (Molecules) Vol. 27 Issue 9 (May 07 2022) ISSN: 1420-3049 [Electronic] Switzerland
• PMID: 35566346 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Cytokines
• Interleukin-1
• Interleukin-17
• Interleukin-23
• Interleukin-6
• Oils, Volatile
• Imiquimod

Topics

• Animals
• Cytokines (metabolism)
• Dermatitis (pathology)
• Disease Models, Animal
• Imiquimod (adverse effects)
• Interleukin-1
• Interleukin-17
• Interleukin-23
• Interleukin-6 (pharmacology)
• Keratinocytes
• Mice
• Mice, Inbred BALB C
• Oils, Volatile (adverse effects)
• Perilla frutescens (metabolism)
• Psoriasis (chemically induced, drug therapy)
• Skin (metabolism)