Loading…

Topical calcitriol restores the impairment of epidermal permeability and antimicrobial barriers induced by corticosteroids

Summary Background  The active form of vitamin D3, calcitriol, is widely used for the treatment of psoriasis, with or without topical corticosteroids. Topical corticosteroids are known to disrupt permeability and antimicrobial barriers, even with short‐term use. Yet, the effect of topical calcitriol...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of dermatology (1951) 2010-06, Vol.162 (6), p.1251-1260
Main Authors: Hong, S.P., Oh, Y., Jung, M., Lee, S., Jeon, H., Cho, M-Y., Lee, S.H., Choi, E.H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Summary Background  The active form of vitamin D3, calcitriol, is widely used for the treatment of psoriasis, with or without topical corticosteroids. Topical corticosteroids are known to disrupt permeability and antimicrobial barriers, even with short‐term use. Yet, the effect of topical calcitriol on epidermal permeability and antimicrobial barriers disrupted by topical corticosteroids has not been determined. Objectives  To examine the effect of calcitriol on epidermal permeability and antimicrobial barrier function that has been impaired by corticosteroids, as well as to elucidate the mechanism of improvement. Material and methods  Topical calcitriol or the control vehicle was applied to each flank of hairless mice 20 min after treatment with topical clobetasol propionate and repeated every 12 h for 3·5 days. Barrier function assessment, Nile red staining, electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, and real‐time reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction studies were performed 24 h after the last application. Results  Epidermis co‐treated with topical calcitriol showed an improvement of stratum corneum integrity and barrier recovery, more intense fluorescence staining with Nile red, and an increase in lamellar body (LB) maturation and density, as well as upregulation of major epidermal lipid synthesis‐related enzymes (3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylglutaryl‐CoA, serine‐palmitoyl transferase and fatty acid synthase), mouse beta‐defensin 3, cathelin‐related antimicrobial peptide and vitamin D receptor. Conclusions  We found that topical calcitriol restored both the epidermal permeability and antimicrobial barrier that had been impaired by corticosteroids. This restoration was mediated by both an activation of the cutaneous vitamin D pathway and an increase of epidermal lipids and antimicrobial peptides, promoted by the formation of the LB and the activity of epidermal lipid synthesis‐related enzymes.
ISSN:0007-0963
1365-2133
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2133.2010.09760.x