Evaluation of a Tagetes erecta Flower Extract Cream for Psoriasis-Relevant Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Effects

Background

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease in which the use of conventional therapies is often associated with adverse effects; therefore, medicinal plants with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties represent a promising alternative for the development of safer topical treatments.

Objectives

To develop and characterize a topical anti-psoriatic cream formulated with Tagetes erecta (TE) flower extract, due to its anti-inflammatory property.

Materials and Methods

The study consisted of a qualitative and a quantitative assessment of TE flower, antioxidant assessment. Analytical quantitation and validation carried out via HPLC. Development of the topical anti-psoriatic cream followed the determination of the in vitro anti-inflammatory activity of the cream.

Results

The ethanolic extract exhibited higher flavonoid content (17.80 mg RE/g) than phenolic content (0.389 mg GAE/g). An anti-psoriatic cream was formulated with varying concentrations of TE and subjected to physicochemical characterization. In the DPPH assay, TE showed an IC₅₀ of 11.88 mg/mL and an AAE of 46.3 mM/100 g, compared to the cream’s IC₅₀ of 30.83 mg/mL and AAE of 17.83 mM/100 g. HPLC analysis confirmed the highest quercetin concentration in formulation F3 (1.625 mg/g), with a validated linearity range (R²=0.9949) and %RSD between 0.49-5.69%. The RBC membrane stabilization assay showed significant inhibition of hemolysis 74.78% at 1000 µg/mL (p<0.05) as compared to standard. TE showed considerable inhibition of protein denaturation, showing highly significant effect of concentration (p<0.01), and a significant difference between Standard and Extract treatments (p<0.05).

Conclusion

The extract-enriched formulation showed better anti-inflammatory activity, which shows that it has potential as a new herbal treatment for psoriasis.