Aims
Psoriasis is a cutaneous disease mainly characterized by keratinocyte hyperproliferation, abnormal epidermal differentiation, inflammation and angiogenesis. In this study, we aimed to report the therapeutic potential of Diosgenin on psoriasis-like models and explore the underlying mechanisms. Main
Methods
For in vitro studies, we initially evaluated the bioeffects of Diosgenin on keratinocytes by detecting the cell viability, cell cycle and apoptosis in HaCaT cells. To mimic psoriatic conditions, we established hyperproliferative model by stimulating HaCaT cells with LPS/IL-22 and inflammatory model by LPS/TNF-α stimulation. Meanwhile, differentiation in HaCaT cells and angiogenesis in HUVECs/HMEC-1 were observed. The influence of Diosgenin on above-mentioned conditions was examined. For in vivo studies, we dosed imiquimod (IMQ) -induced mice with Diosgenin and conducted hematoxylin-eosin (HE), TUNEL assay and immunohistochemistry (IHC) to evaluate histological changes, apoptosis and the status of keratinocyte proliferation, epidermal differentiation, vascularity and cutaneous inflammatory cell infiltration respectively. Key findings:
Significance
This study suggests that Diosgenin might be a promising candidate for developing anti-psoriatic agents.