The College of Pharmacy discussed the doctoral thesis tagged “Possible Ameliorating Effect of Paquinimod in Imiquimod Induced Psoriasis Like Inflammation in Mice” by Raghad Abdulsalam Khaleel in the Pharmacology and Toxicology Department and her supervisor, Associate Professor Dr. Munaf Hashim. The aim of this thesis was to look into the potential anti-inflammatory effects of paquinimod (in both oral and topical preparations) on imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like skin inflammation, as well as to compare these effects to those of dexamethasone taken orally and clobetasol applied topically. The thesis included testing the effect of pacquinimod when given to a group of mice orally or topically, and comparing its effect on psoriasis compared to another untreated group. The results proved that Psoriasis area and severity index examination revealed a significant (p<0.05) elevation in the psoriasis area and severity index in the (Vehicle +IMQ) group. Furthermore, all parameters (ear and skin thickness, spleen index, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-23, and interleukin-17) revealed significant results in the (Vehicle+ IMQ) group in comparison to the control group. The (Paquinimod+imiquimod) group revealed a significant (p<0.05) reduction in (gene expression of the interleukin1-B, interleukin 17, tumor necrosis factor-alfa, and nuclear factor kappa-B) when compared to the(Vehicle +IMQ) group. In comparison to imiquimod-treated groups, paquinimod-treated groups exhibited a significant decrease in inflammatory symptoms as measured by histopathological scoring. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that the treatment with paquinimod is effective in preventing the progression of psoriasis. The present work provides evidence for the ability of paquinimod in both prepared dosage forms (oral and topical) to work as an anti-psoriatic agent in imiquimod-induced psoriasis in mice by downregulation of gene expression of the (interleukin1-B, interleukin 17, tumor necrosis factor alfa, and nuclear factor kappa-B) suppressors (Tumor necrosis factor-alpha level, interleukin-23 level, and interleukin-17 level) , reducing spleen index, ear thickness, skin thickness, and psoriasis area and severity index score. The effect of paquinimod is mainly derived from its anti-inflammatory ability.
