Green Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex-based carbon dots for ameliorating imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like inflammation in mice.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Carbon dots (CDs) with multifaceted advantages have provided hope for development brand-new nanodrug for treating thorny diseases. This study developed a green and simple calcination method to prepare novel CDs as promising drug for psoriasis treatment. The as-prepared CDs using Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex (PCC) as sole precursor were characterized by a series of methods, mainly including electron microscopy, optical technology and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).

RESULTS:

Results displayed that fluorescence (Quantum yield = 5.63%) and nontoxic PCC-based CDs (PCC-CDs) with abundant chemical groups exhibited solubility and tiny sizes at average of (1.93 ± 0.53) nm, which may be beneficial for its inherent biological activity. Moreover, by using the typical imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis-like skin mouse model, we firstly demonstrated the pronounced anti-psoriasis activity of as-prepared PCC-CDs on ameliorating the appearance, psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) scores as well as histopathological morphology of both back skin tissues and right ears in IMQ-induced mouse. Further potential mechanisms behind the anti-psoriasis activities may be related to suppress M1 polarization and relatively promote M2 polarization of macrophage both in vitro and in vivo.

CONCLUSION:

These results suggested that PCC-CDs have potential to be an anti-psoriasis candidate for clinical applications to treat psoriasis, which not only provided an evidence for further broadening the biological application of CDs, but also provided a potential hope for application nanodrugs to treat thorny diseases.

• Authors: Meiling Zhang, Jinjun Cheng, Jie Hu, Juan Luo, Yue Zhang, Fang Lu, Hui Kong, Huihua Qu, Yan Zhao
• Journal: Journal of nanobiotechnology (J Nanobiotechnology) Vol. 19 Issue 1 Pg. 105 (Apr 15 2021) ISSN: 1477-3155 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 33858431 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Cytokines
• Carbon
• Imiquimod

Topics

• Animals
• Carbon (chemistry, therapeutic use)
• Cytokines (metabolism)
• Disease Models, Animal
• Imiquimod (adverse effects, chemistry)
• Inflammation (drug therapy)
• Macrophages (pathology)
• Male
• Mice
• Mice, Inbred BALB C
• Psoriasis (chemically induced, drug therapy, pathology)
• RAW 264.7 Cells
• Skin (pathology)