Mild electrical stimulation with heat shock reduces inflammatory symptoms in the imiquimod-induced psoriasis mouse model

Label-Free Multiphoton Microscopy for Diagnosis of Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a global problem that significantly affects patients both physically and mentally. Accurate and rapid detection of psoriasis is crucial for diagnosis and treatment. Herein, we utilized multiphoton microscopy (MPM) to rapidly image psoriasis in imiquimod-induced mouse and human psoriatic samples. Our results showed that MPM accurately monitored the thickening of stratum corneum and epidermis in psoriatic tissues, similar to traditional H&E staining. Notably, we observed an increased alignment and number of collagen fibers in both mouse models and human psoriatic samples. Furthermore, a decrease in the proportionate area, length, width, and cross-linking gap of collagen fibers, as well as an increase in cross-linking density was also obtained in mouse psoriatic models. These findings suggest that collagen can be a biomarker for evaluating the progress of psoriasis. Overall, our study presents a rapid diagnostic method for psoriasis using MPM.

Electrostimulation: A Promising New Treatment for Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease caused by abnormal activation and immune system disorder. Despite the availability of several treatments, they only provide temporary relief, and there is a critical need for more effective therapies to manage this condition. Electrostimulation has been widely used as a physical stimulus in treating various diseases, and recent studies have shown its potential in psoriasis treatment. In this review, we explore the direct and indirect effects of electrostimulation in treating psoriasis and their underlying mechanisms (the decreased secretion of inflammatory cytokines, the loss of cell-to-cell connections, and the cAMP signaling pathway). Our findings suggest that electrostimulation therapy may offer a promising approach to treating psoriasis and developing wearable devices for its management.

Methotrexate and electrostimulation cooperate to alleviate the relapse of psoriasiform skin inflammation by suppressing memory T cells

Methotrexate (MTX) is an immunosuppressant used to treat autoimmune diseases, including psoriasis. However, like other immunosuppressants, MTX alone does not prevent their recurrence. Electrostimulation (ES) has been utilized to treat some inflammatory disorders without any major side-effect. But it remains unknown if ES alone, or together with MTX, ameliorates autoimmune disease relapse: a sticky medical problem. In particular, the mechanisms underlying ES action remain unclear. The objective of this study was to determine an impact of ES and/or MTX on psoriasis relapse and their potential cooperation. We found that regional ES, but not MTX, ameliorated psoriasiform skin inflammation recurrence. Interestingly, treatment with both MTX and ES further prevented psoriasis recurrence compared to ES alone. Moreover, ES downregulated potassium channel Kv1.3 on T-cells and reduced CD4+/CD8+ effector memory (TEM) and CD8+ skin-resident memory T (TRM) cells, while ES plus MTX further decreased CD8+ TEM/TRM cells compared to ES alone. However, ES failed to further attenuate psoriasis recurrence or suppress T cell memory in Kv1.3-deficient mice, whereas lack of Kv1.3 itself ameliorated psoriasis relapse by shrinking T cell memory pool. Importantly, ES moderately inhibited T-cell proliferation in vitro. ES also reduced human CD8+ TRM cells and attenuated human skin lesions in humanized mice grafted with lesional skin from patients with recurrent psoriasis, with an enhanced efficacy in mice treated with both ES and MTX. Thus, ES and MTX cooperated to prevent psoriasis relapse by reducing T-cell memory via targeting potassium channel Kv1.3. Our studies may be implicated for treating human psoriasis.

Wireless charging-mediated angiogenesis and nerve repair by adaptable microporous hydrogels from conductive building blocks

Traumatic brain injury causes inflammation and glial scarring that impede brain tissue repair, so stimulating angiogenesis and recovery of brain function remain challenging. Here we present an adaptable conductive microporous hydrogel consisting of gold nanoyarn balls-coated injectable building blocks possessing interconnected pores to improve angiogenesis and recovery of brain function in traumatic brain injury. We show that following minimally invasive implantation, the adaptable hydrogel is able to fill defects with complex shapes and regulate the traumatic brain injury environment in a mouse model. We find that placement of this injectable hydrogel at peri-trauma regions enhances mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor by 180% and improves angiogenesis by 250% in vivo within 2 weeks after electromagnetized stimulation, and that these effects facilitate neuron survival and motor function recovery by 50%. We use blood oxygenation level-dependent functional neuroimaging to reveal the successful restoration of functional brain connectivity in the corticostriatal and corticolimbic circuits.

Do epidermal keratinocytes have sensory and information processing systems?

It was long considered that the role of epidermal keratinocytes is solely to construct a water-impermeable protective membrane, the stratum corneum, at the uppermost layer of the skin. However, in the last two decades, it has been found that keratinocytes contain multiple sensory systems that detect environmental changes, including mechanical stimuli, sound, visible radiation, electric fields, magnetic fields, temperature and chemical stimuli, and also a variety of receptor molecules associated with olfactory or taste sensation. Moreover, neurotransmitters and their receptors that play crucial roles in the brain are functionally expressed in keratinocytes. Recent studies have demonstrated that excitation of keratinocytes can induce sensory perception in the brain. Here, we review the sensory and information processing capabilities of keratinocytes. We discuss the possibility that epidermal keratinocytes might represent the earliest stage in the development of the brain during the evolution of vertebrates.

Mild electrical stimulation with heat shock attenuates renal pathology in adriamycin-induced nephrotic syndrome mouse model

Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is a renal disorder that is characterized by massive proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia and edema. One of the main causes of NS is focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), which has extremely poor prognosis. Although steroids and immunosuppressants are the first line of treatment, some FSGS cases are refractory, prompting the need to find new therapeutic strategies. We have previously demonstrated that an optimized combination treatment of mild electrical stimulation (MES) and heat shock (HS) has several biological benefits including the amelioration of the pathologies of the genetic renal disorder Alport syndrome. Here, we investigated the effect of MES + HS on adriamycin (ADR)-induced NS mouse model. MES + HS suppressed proteinuria and glomerulosclerosis induced by ADR. The expressions of pro-inflammatory cytokines and pro-fibrotic genes were also significantly downregulated by MES + HS. MES + HS decreased the expression level of cleaved caspase-3 and the number of TUNEL-positive cells, indicating that MES + HS exerted anti-apoptotic effect. Moreover, MES + HS activated the Akt signaling and induced the phosphorylation and inhibition of the apoptotic molecule BAD. In in vitro experiment, the Akt inhibitor abolished the MES + HS-induced Akt-BAD signaling and anti-apoptotic effect in ADR-treated cells. Collectively, our study suggested that MES + HS modulates ADR-induced pathologies and has renoprotective effect against ADR-induced NS via regulation of Akt-BAD axis.

A novel condition of mild electrical stimulation exerts immunosuppression via hydrogen peroxide production that controls multiple signaling pathway

Different modes of exogenous electrical stimulation at physiological strength has been applied to various diseases. Previously, we extensively demonstrated the usability of mild electrical stimulation (MES) with low frequency pulse current at 55 pulses per second (MES₅₅) for several disease conditions. Here we found that MES with high frequency pulse-current (5500 pulse per second; MES₅₅₀₀) suppressed the overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines induced by phorbol myristate acetate/ionomycin in Jurkat T cells and primary splenocytes. MES₅₅₀₀ also suppressed the overproduction of inflammatory cytokines, improved liver damage and reduced mouse spleen enlargement in concanavalin-A-treated BALB/c mice. The molecular mechanism underlying these effects included the ability of MES₅₅₀₀ to induce modest amount of hydrogen peroxide and control multiple signaling pathways important for immune regulation, such as NF-κB, NFAT and NRF2. In the treatment of various inflammatory and immune-related diseases, suppression of excessive inflammatory cytokines is key, but because immunosuppressive drugs used in the clinical setting have serious side effects, development of safer methods of inhibiting cytokines is required. Our finding provides evidence that physical medicine in the form of MES₅₅₀₀ may be considered as a novel therapeutic tool or as adjunctive therapy for inflammatory and immune-related diseases.