Investigating The Effect of Calophyllum Inophyllum Ethanolic Extract on The Gene Expression in TNF-ɑ and IFN-γ Induced Human Keratinocyte Skin Cells (HaCaT)

Abstract

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic skin disease that affects 20% of children aged three to six months and 3% of adults worldwide. Despite its prevalence, the exact cause of the disease remains unclear due to its complexity of the disease. Many available drugs in the market for treating AD focus on preventing the disease from worsening, such as managing skin infection, hydration, inflammation, and itch. However, they are known to be inefficient, expensive or cause extreme side effects to the user; thus, an alternative treatment is needed for AD. The oil from Calophyllum inophyllum or tamanu has been used as a traditional treatment for various skin-related diseases such as psoriasis, burn, and acne. In addition, the oil extracted from tamanu seeds has been reported to have several properties, such as anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-inflammation. Since AD is related to chronic inflammation and skin barrier disruption, these properties make tamanu oil an ideal candidate for AD. Despite this potential, scientific data on the benefits of tamanu oil for AD, especially at the genetic level, remains scarce. This study investigates the effect of tamanu treatment on the expression of two skin barrier genes and six inflammatory genes in HaCaT cells induced with TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma to mimic the condition of AD patients. The investigation shows upregulation in the treated skin barrier (FLG and IVL) gene expression and downregulation in the inflammatory (IL-33, MDC, TSLP) gene expression.