Curcumin relieves TPA-induced Th1 inflammation in K14-VEGF transgenic mice

• Topical use of a curcumin gel formulation can inhibit TPA-induced Th1 inflammation in K14-VEGF transgenic mice.
• TPA-induced “psoriasis-like” inflammation in K14-VEGF transgenic mice was not a Th17-like inflammation.
• TPA enhanced the proliferation of epidermis gd T cells incapable of IL-17A production.

Curcumin has been confirmed to have anti-inflammatory properties in addition to the ability to decrease the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in keratinocytes. It was suggested that the interleukin-23 (IL-23)/IL-17A cytokine axis played a critical role in the pathogenesis of 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (TPA)-induced K14-VEGF transgenic psoriasis-like mice model. Here, we report that topical use of a curcumin gel formulation inhibited TPA-induced Th1 inflammation in K14-VEGF transgenic mice ears but not Th17 inflammation as expected. Real-time PCR showed that mRNA levels of IL-23, IL-17A, IL-22, IL-6 and TNFα cytokines failed to increase after TPA-induction in K14-VEGF transgenic mice ear skin; but the mRNA level of IFNγ increased significantly at the same time. Furthermore, TPA-induction up-regulated the TCRγδ protein but failed to impact the CCR6 protein, which means that the proliferation of γδ T cells is incapable of IL-17A production. We find that curcumin is capable of relieving TPA-induced inflammation by directly down-regulating IFNγ production. In conclusion, curcumin inhibits TPA-induced Th1 inflammation in K14-VEGF transgenic mice which has not been previously described.