Efficacy of ethylmethylhydroxypyridine succinate in the experimental therapy of psoriasis-like dermatitis

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease that affects millions of people worldwide. Limiting oxidative stress can alleviate inflammation, improving the psoriasis treatment. This has been proven for natural antioxidants, but remains largely unexplored for synthetic antioxidants. The objective is to study the effectiveness of ethylmethylhydroxypyridine succinate (EMHPS) gel in the topical treatment of psoriatic dermatitis in albino rats. Imiquimod-induced psoriatic dermatitis was treated with 5% EMHPS gel. Before and 6 days after the start of treatment, the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI), histopathological changes, biomarkers of oxidative stress and extracellular matrix in the skin were assessed. The EMHPS gel accelerated the reduction of symptoms from 8.6 points to 0.4 points on the PASI scale. After the treatment, the stratum corneum of the epidermis was well defined, the epidermis was thinned, areas of acanthosis were rare, and the number of cells was moderate. The EMHPS gel decreased the malondialdehyde concentration, catalase activity, and the content of hydroxyproline and glycosaminoglycans in the skin. Thus, EMHPS topical application in the psoriasis animal model significantly reduces the manifestations of pathology, which is apparently explained by the limitation of oxidative stress and associated signaling pathways.