title: In vivo response of GsdmA3Dfl/+ mice to topically applied anti-psoriatic agents: effects on epidermal thickness, as determined by optical coherence tomography and H&E staining.
abstract: This study evaluated in vivo the potential of optical coherence tomography (OCT) to determine changes in thickness of the epidermis in response to the topically applied anti-psoriatics betamethasone dipropionate (BD), salicylic acid (SA) and also fish oil (FO). GsdmA3Dfl/+ mice have an inflammatory hair loss phenotype that includes hyperproliferation and epidermal thickening, hence a potential psoriasis model. Changes in epidermal thickness were evaluated over a period of 10 days, with the mice treated with combined BD + SA, FO + SA and BD + FO + SA. The data were validated with conventional measurement using H&E staining coupled with microscopy. Initial baseline measurement revealed an average epidermal thickness of 26.92 ± 1.17 μm. After 10 days of treatment with BD, the average epidermal thickness was reduced by 38.8% (P = 0.0001), and inversely, treatment with FO resulted in an unexpected 105% increase (P = 0.0001) in epidermal thickness. Combined BD + FO treatment did not cause any significant change (P = 0.3755) and may further indicate opposing effects on keratinocyte proliferation. The data obtained using OCT were statistically the same as those obtained by H&E/microscopy (P = 0.4325), supporting a greater role for OCT in dermatological studies, while also allowing a reduction in the number of animals used in such studies as sacrifice at individual timepoints is not necessary.
authors.affiliation: Welsh School of Pharmacy, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
authors.forename: Mohd Hanif
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Zulfakar
authors.forename: Aneesh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alex
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Povazay
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Drexler
authors.forename: Christopher P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Rebecca M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: Charles M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Heard
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001623:Betamethasone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004817:Epidermis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D005395:Fish Oils / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics; D020156:Salicylic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000094524:Gasdermins
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D001623:Betamethasone; D005395:Fish Oils; D011506:Proteins; D020156:Salicylic Acid; C499121:Gsdma3 protein, mouse; D000094524:Gasdermins; C011175:betamethasone-17,21-dipropionate