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Antrodia cinnamomea (A. cinnamomea) is a Chinese medicinal herb that possesses a broad range of bioactivities, including anti-inflammation. Given that the proinflammatory cytokine IL-17 plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, we investigated whether A. cinnamomea could inhibit the development of Th17 cells, the main producer of IL-17, and exhibit therapeutic effects on an animal model of psoriasis. We found that A. cinnamomea extract (AC) inhibited the differentiation of Th17 cells as well as the production of IL-17A, IL-21, and IL-22 from these cells. This effect was associated with the inhibition of STAT3 phosphorylation and ROR$\gamma$t expression. Notably, the oral administration of AC reduced psoriasis-like inflammation in imiquimod-mediated dermal damage, repressed the expression of IL-17A, IL-22, and TNF-$\alpha$ in skin lesions, and decreased the infiltration of CD4${}^{+}$ T cells, CD8${}^{+}$ T cells, and neutrophils into the dermis. Finally, serum levels of IL-17A were decreased in AC-treated mice with psoriasis-like skin inflammation. Taken together, these findings indicate that AC inhibits Th17 cell differentiation, suggesting a role for A. cinnamomea in the treatment of psoriasis and other Th17 cell-mediated inflammatory diseases.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory cutaneous disease characterized by clinical manifestations of erythema and white scales. The pathogenesis of psoriasis is not yet clear. Despite a combination of hormonal therapy and physiotherapy used in Western medicine, the condition often relapses after withdrawal of drugs. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has therapeutic features and may be a clinically effective formula by regulating unbalanced immune systems, such as by targeting interleukins. In this paper, we review recent research about how Chinese medicine immunoregulates psoriasis via interleukins, and systematically summarizes the related mechanisms. There are three common pathways leading to psoriasis: (1) Th17 cells secrete IL-17, which is stimulated by IL-23; (2) Th1 cells secrete IL-21, TNF-$\alpha$ and IFN-$\gamma$, with the help of Th17 cells; (3) Th22 cells secrete IL-22 under the stimulation of Th17 cells. Clinical and experiment data indicate that TCM could modify psoriasis by antagonizing or regulating interleukin and IL-23/IL-17 axis to inhibit the main pathways.

Shikonin is one of the primary active components extracted from the dried root ofZicao (Lithospermum erythrorhizon, Onosma paniculata, or Arnebia euchroma), a traditional Chinese herbal medicine. Shikonin is known to not only exert anti-proliferative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-angiogenic activities, but also play a crucial role in triggering the production of reactive oxygen species, suppressing the release of exosomes, and inducing apoptosis. Increasing evidence suggests that shikonin has a protective effect against skin diseases, including psoriasis, melanoma, and hypertrophic scars. In order to evaluate the application potential of shikonin in the treatment of skin diseases, this review is the first of its kind to provide comprehensive and up-to-date information regarding the uses of shikonin and its derivatives on skin diseases and its underlying mechanisms. In this review, we have focused on the signaling pathways and cellular targets involved in the anti-dermatosis effects of shikonin to bridge the gaps in the literature, thereby providing scientific support for the research and development of new drugs from a traditional medicinal plant.

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Psoriasis is a complex disease, in which microRNAs played an important role in regulating target genes, and thus affecting gene expression and conducting cell proliferation. To analysis the regulation of microRNAs, and to illustrate the interaction of microRNAs with psoriasis related genes, we analyzed the upstream regions of the differentially expressed microRNAs relating to psoriasis. The polymerase binding site motifs were discovered by MAST using profiles of 13 polymerases in the upstream region for each microRNA, and a SVM (Support Vector Machine) was used to identify the motifs mostly related to microRNA expression level. Result shows that motif 3 and motif 6 are key to the gene expression type of psoriasis related microRNAs.

Psoriasis is an inflammatory chronic disorder mediated by cells of immune systems. To know more about the pathogenesis underlying differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of psoriasis, we used all the 64102 annotated genes to assay the transcriptome of psoriatic and normal skin based upon public available RNA-Seq data. We identified 2906 DEGs (p.adj<0.05), of which 1365 were down-regulated and 1541 were up-regulated in psoriasis. Transcription-factor binding sites (TFBS) of NFKBRELA, IRF1, STAT1 showed significantly enriched among the up-regulated DEGs. We also confirmed that cytokines in immune system play an important role in psoriasis.