Essential Oil of Matricaria chamomilla Alleviate Psoriatic-Like Skin Inflammation by Inhibiting PI3K/Akt/mTOR and p38MAPK Signaling Pathway

Guang Chen; Caohua Lv; Qing Nie; Xin Li; Yinyi Lv; Guoyan Liao; Shuangchun Liu; Weiwei Ge; Jinguang Chen; Yunting Du

doi:10.2147/CCID.S445008

Essential Oil of Matricaria chamomilla Alleviate Psoriatic-Like Skin Inflammation by Inhibiting PI3K/Akt/mTOR and p38MAPK Signaling Pathway

Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2024 Jan 8:17:59-77. doi: 10.2147/CCID.S445008. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Guang Chen^#¹, Caohua Lv^#², Qing Nie³, Xin Li¹, Yinyi Lv¹, Guoyan Liao¹, Shuangchun Liu⁴, Weiwei Ge², Jinguang Chen¹, Yunting Du⁵

Affiliations

¹ Taizhou Central Hospital (Taizhou University Hospital), Taizhou University, Taizhou, 318000, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Dermatology, Taizhou Second People's Hospital, Taizhou, 317200, People's Republic of China.
³ Weifang Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Weifang, 261061, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Municipal Hospital Affiliated to Medical School of Taizhou University, Taizhou, 318000, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Department of Laboratory Medicine, Cancer Hospital of China Medical University, Liaoning Cancer Hospital & Institute, Shenyang, 110042, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: The traditional Matricaria chamomilla L. has been used to treat dermatitis for thousands of years. Due to emerging trends in alternative medicine, patients prefer natural remedies to relieve their symptoms. Therefore, finding safe and effective plant medicines for topical applications on the skin is an important treatment strategy for dermatologists. German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) from the Compositae family is a famous medicinal plant, often known as the "star of medicinal species."However, the function of Matricaria chamomilla essential oil on skin inflammation has not been thoroughly examined in earlier research.

Methods: GC-MS analyzed the components of MCEO, and this study explored the anti-inflammation effects of MCEO on psoriasis with network pharmacological pathway prediction. Following this, we used clinical samples of psoriasis patients to confirm the secretory characteristic of relative inflammatory markers. The therapeutic effect of MCEO on skin inflammation was detected by examination of human keratinocytes HaCaT. At the same time, we prepared imiquimod-induced psoriatic-like skin inflammation in mice to investigate thoroughly the potential inhibition functions of MCEO on psoriatic skin injury and inflammation.

Results: MCEO significantly reduced interleukin-22/tumor necrosis factor α/lipopolysaccharide-stimulated elevation of HaCaT cell inflammation, which was correlated with downregulating PI3K/Akt/mTOR and p38MAPK pathways activation mediated by MCEO in HaCaT cells treated with IL-22/TNF-α/LPS. Skin inflammation was evaluated based on the PASI score, HE staining, and relative inflammatory cytokine levels. The results showed that MCEO could significantly contribute to inflammatory skin disease treatment.

Conclusion: MCEO inhibited inflammation in HaCaT keratinocytes induced by IL-22/TNF-α/LPS, the potential mechanisms associated with inhibiting excessive activation and crosstalk between PI3K/Akt/mTOR and p38MAPK pathways. MCEO ameliorated skin injury in IMQ-induced psoriatic-like skin inflammation of mice by downregulating the levels of inflammatory cytokines but not IL-17A. Thus, anti-inflammatory plant drugs with different targets with combined applications were a potential therapeutic strategy in psoriasis.

Keywords: HaCaT; IMQ; Matricaria chamomilla; essential oil; mouse; psoriasis.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by grants from the Taizhou Science and Technology Planning Project (20ywa57, 21ywa61, 20ywb59), the natural science foundation in Zhejiang Province (LGD21H100002). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, publication decision, or manuscript preparation. All authors had full access to the full data in the study and accepted responsibility to submit for publication.