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Paeoniflorin inhibits inflammatory responses in mice with allergic contact dermatitis by regulating the balance between inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines

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Abstract

Objective

Paeoniflorin (Pae) was previously reported to inhibit inflammation in the skin of mice with allergic contact dermatitis (ACD); however, the mechanism remains unclear. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Pae on the regulation of cytokine production in a murine model of ACD.

Methods

ACD was induced in the mice by repeated application of dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) to their skin. Cutaneous inflammation was evaluated by measuring ear swelling and by histological examination. The cytokine levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.

Results

The results showed that topical application of DNCB caused obvious swelling and inflammatory cell infiltration. Treatment with Pae (70 or 140 mg/kg/d) significantly inhibited the cutaneous inflammation and decreased thymocyte proliferation in the mice with ACD. Additional data indicated that Pae increased interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-10 production but reduced IL-2 and IL-17 levels in the serum as well as in thymocyte and splenocyte culture supernatants. As expected, IL-2 and IL-17 levels in the serum displayed a significant positive correlation with the severity of skin inflammation. In contrast, IL-4 and IL-10 levels were negatively correlated with the inflammation.

Conclusions

The anti-inflammatory action of Pae in the murine model of ACD may be related to its regulation of an imbalanced cytokine production.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30572356, No. 81173075). The authors would like thank Pei-pei Li, Qiong Qin, Feng Yang, Guo-xiong Xie, Wei He, Chen Chen and Shan-shan Song for their excellent technical assistance.

Conflict of interest

There is no conflict of interest to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Anhui Medical University, Key Laboratory of Anti-inflammatory and Immune Medicine, Ministry of Education, Hefei, 230032, China

    Chun Wang, Jun Yuan, Hua-xun Wu, Yan Chang, Qing-tong Wang, Yu-jing Wu, Li-hua Liu & Wei Wei

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  1. Chun Wang
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  2. Jun Yuan
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  3. Hua-xun Wu
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  4. Yan Chang
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  8. Wei Wei
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wei Wei.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Michael J. Parnham.

C. Wang, J. Yuan, and H. Wu contributed equally to this work.

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Wang, C., Yuan, J., Wu, Hx. et al. Paeoniflorin inhibits inflammatory responses in mice with allergic contact dermatitis by regulating the balance between inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Inflamm. Res. 62, 1035–1044 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00011-013-0662-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00011-013-0662-8

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