Histological and Immunohistochemical Study on the Therapeutic Effect of Calcipotriol/Betamethasone versus Exosomes and Black Seed Oil on Imiquimod-Induced Psoriasis-like Skin Injuries in Albino Rats / Nour Mansour Abdelwahab ; Supervised Rahma Kamaleldin Abouelnour, Alshaymaa Gamal Aboulkhair , Rokia Mohamad Hassan

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Histology

Background: Psoriasis is a persistent, uncontrolled inflammatory disease characterized by red, scaly and irritated epidermal lesions. It not only deteriorates health but also has an impact on social life. Aim of work: The present study was designed to compare the therapeutic effect of calcipotriol/betamethasone versus exosomes and black seed oil on imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like skin injuries in male albino rats monitored by biochemical, histological and morphometric methods. Materials and Methods: Forty-five, 12 weeks-old male albino rats of an average body weight of 180-200 grams were used in this experiment. The back of all rats was shaved before the start of experiment. They were divided into 5 main groups: Group (I) Control (n= 15 rats): was divided into 5 subgroups received vaseline cream topically equivalent to the other groups. Group (II) Untreated (n=12 rats): was divided into 2 subgroups: (IIA) Psoriasis induced (n= 6 rats): aldara cream was topically applied once daily for 10 days and (IIB) Recovery (n= 6 rats): aldara cream was topically applied once daily for 10 days and left without treatment for next 10 days. Group (III) Calcipotriol/betamethasone treated (n= 6 rats): as subgroup IIA, then calcipoheal-cort was topically applied twice daily for next 10 days. Group (IV) Exosomes treated (n= 6 rats): as subgroup IIA, on the next day 200og exosomes was intravenously injected and left to be sacrificed at the end of the experiment. Group (V) Black seed oil treated (n= 6 rats): as subgroup IIA, then 0.3 ml of black seed oil topically applied once daily for next 10 days. All rats were sacrificed at the end of experiment (day 20) except subgroups IA & IIA in which rats were sacrificed at (day 10). Skin sections were stained with H&E, Masson~s trichrome and immunohistochemical staining for PCNA and Beclin1. Morphometric measurements and statistical analysis were done. Results: Topical application of IMQ induced psoriasis like inflammation in the form of erythema, scaling and thickening of the back skin of the rats. Treatment with calcipotriol/betamethasone, exosomes and black seed oil alleviate the psoriasis like injuries in the form of decreasing IL-23 level, skin inflammation, epidermal thickness, collagen deposition, keratinocytes proliferation and stimulating autophagy. Conclusion: Exosomes treated group showed the best results in ameliorating of psoriasis to an extent better than calcipotriol/betamethasone and black seed oil

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