The therapeutic efficacy of compound lidocaine cream on psoriasis / 药学学报

Psoriasis is a non-infectious chronic inflammatory skin disease. It′s acknowledged that interleukin (IL)-17 signaling pathway dominantly drives the development of psoriasis. Recently, the role of neuro-immune axis in psoriasis has attracted widespread attention. Lidocaine, a local anesthetic, has ability to block the conduction of nerve impulses, while its therapeutic efficacy on psoriasis remains to be confirmed. Here, we evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of topical application of compound lidocaine cream (LIDO) on imiquimod (IMQ)-induced mouse psoriasis model. Animal welfare and experimental procedures follow the regulations of the Ethics Committee of China Pharmaceutical University. The psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) scoring was used to evaluate the severity of psoriasis-like symptoms. Hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to examine histopathological changes and epidermal thickness was measured. Ki67 immunofluorescence staining was used to evaluate the proliferation of keratinocytes. The relative mRNA expression of inflammatory cytokines (including Il17, Il22, Il23 and Il36) in skin was measured by real-time quantitative PCR. Results show that IMQ-induced increases in the PASI score, epidermal thickness, number of Ki67+ cells and the mRNA expression of inflammatory cytokines are significantly alleviated by topical application of LIDO, whose therapeutic efficacy is also better than that of the positive control drug calcipotriol. Our study suggests that LIDO could be used for psoriasis treatment.

Research progress on TRPV3 channel / 药学学报

Transient receptor potential vanilloid 3 (TRPV3) is a non-selective cation channel, located on cell membranes. TRPV3 is extensively expressed in various organs such as skin, brain, dorsal root ganglia, heart and colon. It's reported that TRPV3 involves in many physiological processes including sensation, skin barrier formation, hair growth and vasodilatation, and pathological processes like pruritus, cutaneous inflammatory disease and cancer. TRPV3 can respond to innoxious warm stimulation (≥ 33 ‍℃‍), endogenous substances (e.‍g., farnesylpyrophosphate) and exogenous small molecules (e.g., carvacrol, camphor and 2-APB). Recently, several natural or synthetic small molecules (e.g., osthole, 74a and dyclonine) have been shown to suppress TRPV3 activity, accompanying with therapeutic efficacy in animal models of diseases, which suggests the potential of TRPV3 as drug target. This paper reviews the research progress on the structure, physiological functions, related diseases and modulators of the TRPV3 channel to provide theoretical references for the future study on TRPV3 channel.

Ge-Gen Decoction attenuates oxytocin-induced uterine contraction and writhing response: potential application in primary dysmenorrhea therapy / 中国天然药物

The uterine tetanic contraction and uterine artery blood flow reduction are possible reasons for primary dysmenorrhea (PD). In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the uterine relaxant effect and the influence on uterine artery blood velocity of Ge-Gen Decoction (GGD), a well-known Chinese herbal formula. In female ICR mice, uterine contraction was induced by oxytocin exposure following estradiol benzoate pretreatment, and the uterine artery blood velocity was detected by Doppler ultrasound. Histopathological examination of the uterine tissue samples were performed by H&E staining. Ex vivo studies demonstrated that oxytocin, posterior pituitary, or acetylcholine induced contractions in isolated mouse uterus. GGD inhibited both spontaneous and stimulated contractions. In vivo study demonstrated that GGD significantly reduced oxytocin-induced writhing responses with a maximal inhibition of 87%. Further study demonstrated that GGD normalized oxytocin-induced abnormalities of prostaglandins F2 alpha (PGF2α) and Ca(2+) in mice. In addition, injection of oxytocin induced a decrease in uterine artery blood flow velocity. Pretreatment with GGD reversed the oxytocin response on blood flow velocity. Histopathological examination showed pretreatment with GGD alleviated inflammation and edema in the uterus when compared with the model group. Both ex vivo and in vivo results indicated that GGD possessed a significant spasmolytic effect on uterine tetanic contraction as well as improvement on uterine artery blood velocity which may involve PGF2α and Ca(2+) signaling, suggesting that GGD may have a clinic potential in PD therapy.