Coleus forskohlii shows anti-psoriatic activity in imiquimod-induced psoriasis rats

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate anti-psoriatic activity of Coleus forskohlii in rats with imiquimod-induced psoriasis. Methods: Imiquimod was used to induce psoriasis in rats. Body weight, skin thickness, erythema, scaling, spleen weight, and histological alternations were measured to assess the effect of Coleus forskohlii. Furthermore, an emulgel formulation containing Coleus forskohlii 10% was prepared and characterized along with its ex vivo permeation studies. Results: The emulgel formulation containing Coleus forskohlii 10% had a pH of 5.40±0.36, with optimum spreadability of (31.67±2.08) g/(cm·s) and viscosity of (15 966.67±1 274.10) cps, and enhanced both the rate and the extent of drug permeation through psoriatic skin. In an ex vivo study, the quantity of drug permeated (19.18%), deposited (52.38%), and drug remaining in the donor compartments (28.31%) was satisfactory. Coleus forskohlii significantly alleviated imiquimod-induced psoriasis by increasing glutathione and superoxide dismutase activity, decreasing malondialdehyde and nitric oxide levels, and alleviating histological alternations in rat skin. Conclusions: Coleus forskohlii can alleviate imiquimod-induced psoriasis, which may be used as a therapeutic candidate for the treatment of psoriasis.

Keywords

Psoriasis / Coleus forskohlii / Emulgel / Ex vivo / Imiquimod / Carbopol

Acknowledgments

All authors extend their appreciation to the I.T.S. College of Pharmacy, Ghaziabad, U.P. India for supporting this work and providing necessary facilities. The authors are also thankful to the Researchers Supporting Project number (RSPD2024R734), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for their support. Authors acknowledge the use of biorender.com for the preparation of a graphical abstract.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding

The study was supported by Researchers Supporting Project number (RSPD2024R734), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Data availability statement

The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon request.

Authors’ contributions

Both SM and MSH developed the concept and methodology. SM and MI performed data analysis. IC, DK, MNA and MSH contributed to writing, reviewing, editing, and investigation. MSH contributed to funding acquisition.

References

[1] Hu M, Sun L, Zhao Q, Li Y, Wang Z, Liu H, et al. COVID-19 exacerbates psoriasis progression through inducing IFN-α expression. Asian Pac J Trop Med 2024; 17(8): 379-380.

[2] Zhang M, Hong S, Sun X, Zhou Y, Luo Y, Liu L, et al. Exploration of and insights into advanced topical nanocarrier systems for the treatment of psoriasis. Front Med 2022; 9. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.1017126.

[3] Gao J, Chen F, Fang H, Mi J, Qi Q, Yang M. Daphnetin inhibits proliferation and inflammatory response in human HaCaT keratinocytes and ameliorates imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like skin lesion in mice. Biol Res 2020; 53(1). doi: 10.1186/s40659-020-00316-0.

[4] Fereig SA, El-Zaafarany GM, Arafa MG, Abdel-Mottaleb MMA. Tackling the various classes of nano-therapeutics employed in topical therapy of psoriasis. Drug Deliv 2020; 27(1): 662-680.

[5] Mitra M, Gantait S, Mandal N. Coleus forskohlii: Advancements and prospects of in vitro biotechnology . Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2020; 104(6): 2359-2371.

[6] Roshni PT, Rekha PD. Biotechnological interventions for the production of forskolin, an active compound from the medicinal plant, Coleus forskohlii . Physiol Mol Biol Plants 2024; 30(2): 213-226.

[7] Badruddoza AZM, Zahid MI, Walsh T, Shah J, Gates D, Yeoh T, et al. Topical drug delivery by Sepineo P600 emulgel: Relationship between rheology, physical stability, and formulation performance. Int J Pharm 2024; 658. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2024.124210.

[8] Jagdale SC, Kothekar PV. Development of emulgel delivery of mupirocin for treatment of skin infection. Recent Pat Antiinfect Drug Discov 2020; 15(2): 137-156.

[9] Roberts MS, Cheruvu HS, Mangion SE, Alinaghi A, Benson HAE, Mohammed Y, et al. Topical drug delivery: History, percutaneous absorption, and product development. Adv Drug Deliv Rev 2021; 177. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2021.113929.

[10] Cheruvu HS, Liu X, Grice JE, Roberts MS. Modeling percutaneous absorption for successful drug discovery and development. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2020; 15(10): 1181-1198.

[11] Raszewska-Famielec M, Flieger J. Nanoparticles for topical application in the treatment of skin dysfunctions-An overview of dermo-cosmetic and dermatological products. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23(24). doi: 10.3390/ijms232415980.

[12] Thirumal D, Sindhu RK, Goyal S, Sehgal A, Kumar A, Babu MA, et al. Pathology and treatment of psoriasis using nanoformulations. Biomedicines 2023; 11(6). doi: 10.3390/biomedicines11061589.

[13] Katari O, Jain S. Solid lipid nanoparticles and nanostructured lipid carrier-based nanotherapeutics for the treatment of psoriasis. Expert Opin Drug Deliv 2021; 18(12): 1857-1872.

[14] Mohd Nordin UU, Ahmad N, Salim N, Mohd Yusof NS. Lipid-based nanoparticles for psoriasis treatment: A review on conventional treatments, recent works, and future prospects. RSC Adv 2021; 11(46): 29080-29101.

[15] Hussain MS, Ismail H, Fareed S, Ali M. New aliphatic ester constituents from Hygrophila auriculata (K.Schum) Heine from the basin area of Koshi River . Orient Pharm Exp Med 2019; 19(3): 251-258.

[16] Hussain MS, Azam F, Nazeer Ahamed KFH, Ravichandiran V, Alkskas I. Anti-endotoxin effects of terpenoids fraction from Hygrophila auriculata in lipopolysaccharide-induced septic shock in rats . Pharm Bio 2016; 54(4): 628-636.

[17] Hussain MS, Nazeer Ahamed KFH, Ravichandiran V, Ansari MZH. Free radical scavenging capacity of natural terpenes from Hygrophila auriculata (Schum) Heine . Asian J Trad Med 2009; 4: 179-187.

[18] Hussain MS, Azam F, Eldarrat HA, Haque A, Khalid M, Zaheen Hassan M, et al. Structural, functional, molecular, and biological evaluation of novel triterpenoids isolated from Helichrysum stoechas (L.) Moench collected from Mediterranean Sea bank: Misurata-Libya . Arabian J Chem 2022; 15(6). doi: 10.1016/j.arabjc.2022.103818.

[19] Hussain MS, Azam F, Mezogi J, Enwiz FA, Benhusein GM, Haque A, et al. A simple validated HPTLC method for analysis of flavonoid and structural analysis of novel terpenoid glycoside from ethanolic extract of Carya illinoinensis bark with potential anti-inflammatory activity . South African J Bot 2022; 147: 596-607.

[20] Tripathi D, Srivastava M, Rathour K, Rai AK, Wal P, Sahoo J, et al. A promising approach of dermal targeting of antipsoriatic drugs via engineered nanocarriers drug delivery systems for tackling psoriasis. Drug Metab Bioanal Lett 2023; 16(2): 89-104.

[21] Shaif M, Kushwaha P, Usmani S, Pandey S. Exploring the potential of nanocarriers in antipsoriatic therapeutics. J Dermatolog Treat 2022; 33(7): 2919-2930.

[22] Bacchetti T, Simonetti O, Ricotti F, Offidani A, Ferretti G. Plasma oxidation status and antioxidant capacity in psoriatic children. Arch Dermatol Res 2020; 312(1): 33-39.

[23] Savu O, Serafinceanu C, Grajdeanu IV, Iosif L, Gaman L, Stoian I. Paraoxonase lactonase activity, inflammation and antioxidant status in plasma of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. J Int Med Res 2014; 42(2): 523-529.

[24] Speeckaert R, Dugardin J, Lambert J, Lapeere H, Verhaeghe E, Speeckaert MM, et al. Critical appraisal of the oxidative stress pathway in vitiligo: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 2018; 32(7): 1089-1098.

[25] Sm F, Sarkar D, Samuel Kelechi M, AAl-Haidari R, Al Busaidi HN, Samman W, et al. Effect on ethanolic extract of sechiumedule fruits on imiquimod-induced psoriasis like dermatitis in wistar rats. Pak J Pharm Sci 2022; 35(4): 1083-1088.

[26] Bigliardi PL. Role of skin pH in psoriasis. Curr Probl Dermatol 2018; 54: 108-114.

[27] Ahmad A, Husain A, Mujeeb M, Khan SA, Najmi AK, Siddique NA, et al. A review on therapeutic potential of Nigella sativa: A miracle herb . Asian Pac J Trop Biomed 2013; 3(5): 337-352.

[28] Asha K, Singal A, Sharma SB, Arora VK, Aggarwal A. Dyslipidaemia & oxidative stress in patients of psoriasis: Emerging cardiovascular risk factors. Indian J Med Res 2017; 146(6): 708-713.

[29] Asefi M, Vaisi-Raygani A, Bahrehmand F, Kiani A, Rahimi Z, Nomani H, et al. Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) 55 polymorphism, lipid profiles and psoriasis. Br J Dermatol 2012; 167(6): 1279-1286.

[30] Laloo D, Prasad SK, Krishnamurthy S, Hemalatha S. Gastroprotective activity of ethanolic root extract of Potentilla fulgens Wall. ex Hook. J Ethnopharmacol 2013; 146(2): 505-514.

[31] Khan A, Ullah MZ, Afridi R, Rasheed H, Khalid S, Ullah H, et al. Antinociceptive properties of 25-methoxy hispidol A, a triterpinoid isolated from Poncirus trifoliata (Rutaceae) through inhibition of NF-κB signalling in mice . Phytoth Res 2019; 33(2): 327-341.

[32] Ali Khan, Ullah S, Khan MK. Alshahrani SM, Braga VA. Formulation and evaluation of Ocimum basilicum-based emulgel for wound healing using animal model . Saudi Pharm J 2020; 28(12): 1842-1850.

[33] Laxmi RJ, Karthikeyan R, Babu PS, Babu RN. Formulation and evaluation of anti-psoriatic gel using natural excipients. J Acute Dis 2013; 2: 115-121.

[34] Parmar KM, Jagtap CS, Katare NT, Dhobi M, Prasad SK. Development of a psoriatic-like skin inflammation rat model using imiquimod as an inducing agent. Indian J Pharmacol 2021; 53(2): 125-131.

[35] Hussein ZA, Shaker NS, Tahseen NJ, Al-Tuhafi AM, Mutee AF. Possible anti-psoriasis effect of the methanol extract of Phoenix dactylifera L. seeds . J Herbmed Pharmacol 2020; 9(4): 382-390.

[36] Horvath S, Komlodi R, Perkecz A. Pinter E, Gyulai R, Kemény A. Methodological refinement of Aldara-induced psoriasiform dermatitis model in mice. Sci Rep 2019; 9(1): 3685. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-39903-x.

[37] Shahine Y, El-Aal SAA, Reda AM, Sheta E, Atia NM, Abdallah OY, et al. Diosmin nanocrystal gel alleviates imiquimod-induced psoriasis in rats via modulating TLR7,8/NF-κB/microRNA-31, AKT/mTOR/P70S6K milieu, and Tregs/Th17 balance. Inflammopharmacology 2023; 31(3): 1341-1359.

[38] Okasha EF, Bayomy NA, Abdelaziz EZ. Effect of topical application of black seed oil on imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like lesions in the thin skin of adult male albino rats. Anat Rec 2018; 301(1): 166-174.

[39] Chauhan I, Singh L. Formulation and optimization of solid lipid nanoparticle-based gel for dermal delivery of linezolid using taguchi design. Recent Adv Antiinfect Drug Discov 2024; 19(4): 322-347.