乾癬是一種免疫誘發的慢性皮膚發炎疾病。最常見的形式是尋常性乾癬，其表現為皮膚出現紅斑、脫屑。因為角質細胞過度增生和分化造成表皮增厚。臨床上，乾癬的治療藥物包括類固醇、生物製劑等。例如Ustakinumab和Secukinumab已被證實有效改善乾癬病兆。傳統中醫的部分，青黛(Indigo)也被證實有療效。然而，仍有部分患者以上述治療仍然無法有效改善患部。因此，我們選擇黃芩素(Baicalin)來評估是否能改善Imiquimod誘發之乾癬樣皮膚炎。在利用Imiquimod發炎之後，以黃芩素和凡士林塗抹誘發的患部。在經過黃芩素治療的皮膚，紅腫和脫屑有明顯的改善。細胞激素的分析下，在經過黃芩素治療的皮膚，IL-17和TNF-稍微減少，IL-23顯著減少，但IL-22無明顯變化。
Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated inflammatory skin disease. The most common form of the disease is psoriasis vulgaris, which manifests as plaques of red, scaly and well-demarcated regions of inflamed skin. These plaques are the result of increased keratinocyte proliferation and altered keratinocyte differentiation leading to a thickening of the epidermis (acanthosis). Clinically, the treatments of psoriasis include steroid, cytokine modulators and so on. Ustakinumab and Secukinumab have been published and even prescribed for patients. In traditional Chinese medicine, Indigo was also well demonstrated for the therapeutic efficacy of this population. However, still lots of patients cannot reach treatment goal under previous strategies. Thus, we select Baicalin, which is the pure compound of the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis, as a therapeutic option. In the study, we focused on the efficacy of Bailcalin in the development of psoriasis using a mouse psoriasis model triggered by topical application of imiquimod (IMQ). After 5 days of inducing psoriasis by IMQ, we applied Baicalin and control vehicle cream on the lesion for another 3 days. The erythema and scaling were significantly improved after Baicalin treatment. The levels of IL-17 and TNF-alpha were slightly decreased and IL-23 was statistically decreased but IL-22 did not show the difference after Baicalin treatment.
