SSRP Abstract

Board 26: DMPG as a Possible Treatment for Psoriasis

Student Scientist: Mindi Klaus ’24
Research Mentor: Wendy Bollag (Department of Physiology, Augusta University)

Many people around the world suffer from the skin disease psoriasis. The use of DOPG as a treatment for the illness was previously tested and showed promising results, however DOPG is a large lipid that does not permeate the skin easily. Our study examined the use of DMPG (a smaller, more permeable lipid) in treating psoriasis in both a cellular model and a mouse model. Preliminary findings suggest that DMPG is effective in treating psoriasis and has the potential to be used in a clinical setting.

Psoriasis is an immune-mediated skin disease that effects a large population of people worldwide. It is characterized by abnormal differentiation and excessive proliferation of keratinocytes, as well as an overactive immune response that causes inflammation. Previously, it was shown that Dioleoylphosphatidylglycerol (DOPG) inhibits toll-like receptors and can reduce inflammation in psoriasis in both an in vitro and an in vivo model. However, DOPG is quite large and does not permeate the skin very easily. This led to the possibility of using an alternative phosphatidylglycerol: Dimyristoyl phospatidylglycerol (DMPG), which is somewhat smaller and more permeable than DOPG. To test this, cells were treated in vitro with a damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) called PAM and then DMPG. RNA was isolated, cDNA made, and qPCR ran with inflammatory markers, showing that DMPG similarly inhibits toll-like receptors and decreases psoriasis-like inflammation. The Imiquimod mouse model was also executed, in which 20 male mice were shaved on their backs and placed into one of four groups: control, DMPG, Imiquimod (IMQ), and IMQ+DMPG. In the morning, each mouse was treated topically with either Vaseline or IMQ, and then in the afternoon, treatment with PBS or DMPG was administered topically. On the seventh day, the animals were sacrificed and the back skin, the right ear, and spleen were harvested. Preliminary results indicate that DMPG was effective in decreasing inflammation and skin thickness in the IMQ model, although some trends did not reach significance, suggesting too low of a DMPG dose was used. The phenotype of the mice improved with DMPG as well. Western blot analysis still needs to be completed, and the images of the backs of the mice will be sent to a third party, unbiased dermatologist who will give them Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) scores. Data collected so far suggests that DMPG may have the potential to be used in treating psoriasis in a clinical setting.