Punicalagin Alleviates Psoriasis by Inhibiting NF-κB-Mediated IL-1β Transcription and Caspase-1-Regulated IL-1β Secretion
Lipeng Tang, Tong Li, Bowen Zhang, Zihao Zhang, Xiaoyi Sun, Ying Zhu, Bing Feng, Zuqing Su, Laijun Yang, Hongxia Li, Huazhen Liu, Yuchao Chen, Zhenhua Dai, Xirun Zheng, Ming‐Xian Li, Chutian Li, Jie Zhao, Xinmin Qiu, Shuyan Ye, Han Liu, Guangjuan Zheng, Ben Li, Chuanjian Lu
Abstract
Psoriasis is a chronic and inflammatory skin disorder characterized by inflammation and epidermal hyperplasia. Punicalagin (PUN) is a main active ingredient of pomegranate ( Punica granatum L.) peel with multiple biological activities, such as antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-tumor effects. However, the potential effect of PUN on psoriasis remains unknown. In this study, we want to investigate the pharmacological effect of PUN on psoriasis by using imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriatic mice model in vivo and tumor necrosis factor a (TNF-α) and interleukin-17A (IL-17A)-stimulated HaCaT cells in vitro . Our results showed that PUN can effectively alleviate the severity of psoriasis-like symptoms. Mechanistically, PUN potently suppresses the aberrant upregulation of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and subsequent IL-1β-mediated inflammatory cascade in keratinocytes by inhibiting the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) activation and cleaved caspase-1 expression in vitro and in vivo . Taken together, our findings indicate that PUN can relieve psoriasis by repressing NF-κB-mediated IL-1β transcription and caspase-1-regulated IL-1β secretion, which provide evidence that PUN might represent a novel and promising candidate for the treatment of psoriasis.