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Published on: September 30, 2021
Intravital Monitoring of Psoriasis Treatment Response and Drug Delivery Using Multiphoton Fluorescence Lifetime
Lynhda Nguyen1, Christian Mess1, Katharina Herberger
1Department of Dermatology and Venereology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Background:
Multiphoton tomography equipped with fluorescence lifetime imaging (MPT-FLIM) is a novel noninvasive imaging technique for analyzing morphological and metabolic states of skin diseases at a subcellular resolution. The present study is the first to establish MPT-FLIM as an imaging modality to monitor treatment response in psoriasis during topical anti-inflammatory therapy.
Materials And Methods:
Patients with psoriasis treated with topical calcipotriol/ betamethasone dipropionate (C/B) or a calcipotriol derivative (C/-) formulation were recruited and monitored using MPT-FLIM. Imaging was performed at baseline on day 0, and during treatment on days 3 and 28.
Results:
A total of six patients prescribed C/B, six patients prescribed C/- and four healthy controls were recruited. Characteristic histological features were visualized, including acanthosis, parakeratosis, papillomatosis, and thinning of the granular layer. There was a strong correlation between clinical, multiphoton tomographic, and pathophysiological improvement during treatment. Assessment of subclinical metabolic changes was a predictive parameter for treatment outcome. Detection of fluorescence signals from drug components allowed for tracking of drug distribution in intra- and intercellular spaces.
Conclusion:
MPT-FLIM proved to be a suitable tool for monitoring treatment response in psoriasis patients and tracking drug delivery. It could be a potential method for monitoring other inflammatory skin diseases during treatment to adjust therapy on an individual level.
