Fig. 3

Topically applied imiquimod induces a transcriptional brain response but does not induce psoriasis-like skin inflammation. Mice were treated with 80 mg of control cream containing 5 % imiquimod or control cream alone every 24 h for five consecutive days. a Mouse weights were recorded after each treatment and are shown as percentage of initial weight, which was considered 100 %. Mice were euthanised 24 h after the final application, and b areas of treated skin were sectioned to 5 μm, stained with H&E and visualised at ×100 magnification using a light microscope. Epidermis [1], dermis [2], muscle [3] and hair follicles [4] are shown. Scale bar = 100 μm. PBL and perfused brains were collected, and c QRT-PCR analysis of the target chemokine genes was performed. n = 5 mice per group. Significance was measured using two-way ANOVA with Bonferroni multiple comparison post-tests. Individual unpaired student’s t tests were used to compare control vs treated within each tissue (c). *** (###) = p ≤ 0.001 ** (##) = p ≤ 0.01 *(#) = p ≤ 0.05