Ergosterol could help psoriasis

[Fred]

Ergosterol is a sterol found in fungi and this study suggest it could be used in the management of psoriasis.

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Retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor gamma-t (RORγt) is one of the nuclear receptor transcription factors that plays a key role in the differentiation of pro-inflammatory IL-17+ T helper cells. Recently, RORγt has attracted increasing attention as a potential drug target for the treatment of several human inflammatory diseases, including psoriasis and Crohn's disease.

In this study, we revealed that ergosterol (ERG) was a novel RORγt inverse agonist, which decreased RORγt transcriptional activity, to regulate collagen fiber deposition and to inhibit pro-inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-17, IL-22, and IL-23 in the skin lesions of IMQ-induced mice with psoriasis. Furthermore, ERG could repair the epidermal barrier function by upregulating tight junction proteins, such as claudin, occludin, and ZO-1, thereby alleviating psoriasis symptoms.

These findings suggested that ERG might be used as a promising novel RORγt inverse agonist in the management of psoriasis.

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com

*Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China and Project of Rejuvenation of Science and Technology for Mongolia.