Vanillin Intake Reduces Psoriatic Skin Inflammation in Mice

Vanillin, one of the most widely used flavoring products worldwide, is an effective bioactive compound against psoriatic skin inflammation, according to a mouse study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Vanilla plant, 1915. Image credit: McCormick and Company.

Vanilla plant, 1915. Image credit: McCormick and Company.

Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disorder that affects about 125 million people worldwide, resulting in scaly red plaques that typically show up on the elbows, knees or scalp.

Immune system proteins called interleukins (IL) 17 and 23 are known to be key players in the development of the condition.

Interestingly, vanillin — the primary component of the extract of the vanilla bean — can have effects on different interleukins that are involved in other inflammatory conditions and diseases.

So, a team of researchers from China Medical University and Asia University in Taiwan wanted to see if treatment with vanillin could prevent psoriatic symptoms.

They induced psoriatic skin inflammation on groups of mice by putting a compound called imiquimod on their skin.

In addition, the mice were orally given daily doses (0, 1, 5, 10, 50 or 100 mg/kg of body weight) of vanillin for seven days.

“We analyzed the effect of vanillin on imiquimod-induced psoriatic skin inflammation in mice,” the authors explained.

“Mice were treated topically with imiquimod on the back skin and orally with various amounts of vanillin for 7 consecutive days. Vanillin significantly improved imiquimod-induced histopathological changes of skin in a dose-dependent manner.”

“The thickness and number of cell layers of epidermis were reduced by 29% and 27.8%, respectively, in mice given 100 mg/kg of vanillin.”

“A microarray showed that a total of 9,042 imiquimod-upregulated genes were downregulated by vanillin, and the biological pathways involved in the immune system and metabolism were significantly altered by vanillin.”

“The upregulated expressions of IL-23, IL-17A, and IL-17F genes were suppressed by vanillin, with fold changes of minus 3.07, minus 2.06, and minus 1.62, respectively. Moreover, vanillin significantly decreased both the amounts of IL-17A and IL-23 and the infiltration of immune cells in the skin tissues of IMQ-treated mice.”

“Vanillin is an effective compound against psoriatic skin inflammation in this animal model,” the researchers concluded.

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Hui-Man Cheng et al. 2017. Oral Administration of Vanillin Improves Imiquimod-Induced Psoriatic Skin Inflammation in Mice. J. Agric. Food Chem 65 (47): 10233-10242; doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.7b04259

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