Thermography in assessing the inflammatory skin changes and effectivity of flavonoids on animal model psoriasis

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease the etiopathogenesis of which has not yet been fully resolved, and therefore there is no standardized therapeutical approach. During five days we investigated the possible positive effects of propolis and its polyphenolic/flavonoid compounds on animal model psoriasis, induced by the Di-n-Propyl Disulfide iritant (PPD). We monitored the inflammation process by thermographic scanning, an effective and simple method which reproductively records thermographic images of the examinated area. The tested animals were divided into sixteen groups and locally processed during five days with selected substances. Thermal imaging of skin locuses of the abdomen was run on the third and fifth day of the testing. Each image had the marked circle of the tested locus on the abdomen, and the lowest, the highest, and the average sample temperatures were noted within the circle. All of the scanning, processing and analysis were run by Darko Kolaric, Ph. D, a research associate, from the Centre for Informatics and Computing in the Ruder Boškovic Institute, using the ThermoMED programme. The primary statistical analysis was performed on the summarized data of all the samples. The results of the thermal imaging showed no statistically significant differences in temperature changes on skin locuses of psoriasis formed lesions among the examined groups. Considering the short amount of time, during which the inflammatory reaction could not have been fully developed, the obtained values have been expected. We can conclude that the thermal imaging was realistic, and can be applicable in examining of the inflammatory process in psoriasis and in evaluating the effectiveness of tested substances.