Effect of Chunghyuldan in Chronic Oxazolone-Induced Mouse Dermatitis

Abstract

Psoriasis is a chronic and inflammatory skin disorder. Psoriasis patients have been shown to have the bias of interferon (IFN)-g producing Th1 and cyclooxygenase (COX)-induced macrophage in lesion skin and peripheral blood. [1][2][3][4] Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitors non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and corticosteroids and immunosuppressants FK-506 and cyclosporine A for Th1 cells have been used clinically for psoriasis. [5][6][7][8][9] Corticosteroids are well known to have potent anti-inflammatory effects, but topical use can cause intense skin atrophy, one of the serious side effects limiting their uses for chronic skin diseases.5,7) Repeated application of corticosteroids on dorsal skin of rats also causes dramatic skin atrophy. FK-506 and cyclosporine A also exhibited side effects, such as severe nephrotoxicity and neurotoxicity. 6) Therefore, herbal medicines for clinical uses, such as Centella asiatica extract, Orengedokto and Sofusan, should be developed. 10,11) Nevertheless, antipsoriatic effects of these herbal medicines have not been thoroughly studied.During the screening program to discover such agents from herbal medicines, Chunghyuldan (CHD, Daio-Orengedokuto in Japanese) exhibited the anti-inflammatory effect. 12)Therefore, we evaluated the antipsoriatic effect of CHD in the oxazolone-induced mouse contact dermatitis model by topical administration and measured mRNA levels of COX-2 and some cytokines. CHD and metabolized CHD were prepared according to the previously reported methods of Cho et al. MATERIALS AND METHODS Materials 12)Animals The female BALB/c mice (20-25 g) were supplied from Orient Experimental Animal Breeding Center (Seoul, Korea). All animals were housed in wire cages at 20-22°C and 50Ϯ10% humidity, fed standard laboratory chow (Orient Experimental Animal Breeding Center, Seoul, Korea) and allowed water ad libitum. All procedures relating to animals and their care conformed to the international guidelines 'Principles of Laboratory Animals Care' (NIH publication no. 85-23, revised 1985).Contact Hypersensitivity An oxazolone-induced dermatitis was measured according to the previous method of Fujii et al.9) BALB/c mice were sensitized by application of 100 ml of 1.5% oxazolone in ethanol to the abdomen. Then a total of 20 ml of 1% oxazolone in a mixture of acetone and olive oil (4 : 1) was applied to both sides of the mouse ear every 3 d starting from 7 d after sensitization. Ear thickness was measured using a Digimatic Micrometer (Mitsutoyo Co., Tokyo, Japan) 72 h after each application of the oxazolone, test agents were applied in a total volume of 20 ml to both sides of the ear 30 min before and 3 h after each application of oxazolone RT-PCR Analysis Ear tissue extract for RT-PCR analysis were performed by the modified method of Chi et al. 13)Briefly, ears were excised 6 h after the last application of oxazolone, freezed in liquid nitrogen and homogenized by a mortar and pestle prechilled in liquid nitrogen. Total RNA was extracted by using TRI reagent according to the ma...

Structural Identification and Bioactivities of Red-Violet Pigments Present in Basella alba Fruits

“…One microliter of cDNA product was used as template for further PCR amplification using recombinant Taq DNA polymerase (Takara Bio Inc., Shiga, Japan). The primers targeting specific genes (Table ) and thermal conditions conducted for amplification were adapted from previous reports − . The PCR products were analyzed on 1.5% agarose gel and stained with ethidium bromide.…”

Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Thyme Essential Oil in Mice

“…Contact hypersensitivity (CHS) experimental models are commonly used in rodents to investigate possible anti-inflammatory agents (Verdrengh et al 2003;Wee et al 2005;Puebla-Pérez et al 2003). CHS is one of the forms of delayed type of hypersensitivity (DTH) which is a T-cell-mediated, antigen-specific skin inflammation induced by skin exposure to hapten (e.g.…”

The Effects of Chunghyul‐Dan, an Agent of Korean Medicine, on a Mouse Model of Traumatic Brain Injury

“…It has been shown to have beneficial effects on the vascular system, including hypocholesterolemic effects in hyperlipidemic rats and humans [12, 13], inhibitory effects on vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, and stimulatory effects on NO production in human endothelial cells [14]. It has also shown anti-inflammatory effects, including inhibitory effects on inducible nitric oxide synthase, prostaglandin E2 production in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophage cells [15], and ameliorating effects on swelling by reducing the mRNA levels of cyclooxygenase-2, interferon-gamma, and interleukin- (IL-) 4 in oxazolone-induced mouse ear dermatitis [16]. …”