Curcumin and ustekinumab cotherapy alleviates induced psoriasis in rats through their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiproliferative effects

Introduction Psoriasis is a chronic multifactorial inflammatory disease that affects 3% of people worldwide. Ustekinumab is a selective anti-IL-12/23 biologic that alleviates psoriasis, and curcumin is a natural, effective dietary turmeric extract applied to treat numerous diseases through its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Objective The current study evaluated the therapeutic effects of curcumin and ustekinumab cotherapy (CUC) on imiquimod (IQ)-induced psoriasis in a rat model. Materials and methods Twenty rats were divided into four groups, G1 (control group), G2 (IQ-treated group), G3 (IQ + ustekinumab), and G4 (IQ + CUC). Clinical, histopathological (HP), immunohistochemical (IHC), antioxidant, and biochemical investigations evaluated the efficacy of these drugs for treating IQ induced-psoriasis. Results Rats of G2 exhibited clinical signs of psoriatic skin lesions (erythema, scaling, and skin thickening) with epidermal changes (acanthosis and parakeratosis). Additionally, the biochemical analysis revealed significant (p < 0.05) reductions in the levels of antioxidant biomarkers (SOD, GPx, and CAT) with significant (p < 0.05) elevations in psoriasis-related cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-17A, IL-12P40, and IL-23). In contrast, CUC alleviated the psoriatic changes in G4 better than ustekinumab monotherapy in G3. Conclusions Ustekinumab inhibits the inflammatory cytokines IL-12P40 and IL-23, while curcumin has antioxidant effects (increasing SOD, GPx, and CAT levels) with anti-inflammatory effects (decreasing the proinflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha and IL-17). Therefore, CUC could be an excellent cost-effective regimen that can improve the treatment of psoriasis by the synergistic effects of CUC.