Yinqiao antipruritic formula attenuates atopic dermatitis-like skin lesions through modulating the cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction pathway

Yinqiao Antipruritic Formula (YQAF) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula for treating atopic dermatitis (AD) that has been used by the Huzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in long-term clinical practice. It has definite therapeutic effects and minimal toxic side effects. However, the specific mechanism underlying the therapeutic effects of YQAF on AD remains ambiguous. We demonstrated the therapeutic effect of YQAF on Th2 type inflammation in a 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB)-induced AD mice model and elucidated the underlying mechanism. Results showed that YQAF effectively ameliorated the AD-like skin damage. YQAF suppressed the abnormal thickening of the epidermal hyperplasia induced by DNCB, decreased the mast cells infiltration, the collagen fibres number in the skin lesions, and reduced the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), interleukin (IL)-6 and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB). YQAF inhibited the Th2-type immune response, decreased the percentages of Th2 cells in dLNs, reduced the infiltration of group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2), and suppressed the expression of IL-4 and IL-13 in skin lesions. According to the transcriptome sequencing results, YQAF inhibited the cytokine-cytokine interaction pathways. Our findings indicated that YQAF improved the symptoms of DNCB-induced AD-like lesions, which may be related to the inhibition of cytokine-cytokine interaction pathways. This indicated the potential of YQAF as a traditional Chinese Medicine formula for the treatment of AD.