A Bench-to-Bioinformatics: Approach to Chamomile Oil Creams for the Treatment of Psoriasis

Abstract

Background: Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated inflammatory skin disease characterized by abnormal keratinocyte proliferation, impaired epidermal differentiation, and recurrent scaly plaques. Chamomile oil contains bioactive constituents with reported anti-inflammatory and dermatological relevance, but its usefulness as a topical antipsoriatic candidate depends on stable formulation development, skin compatibility, release behavior, and preclinical biological activity. Objective: This study aimed to develop chamomile oil-based oil-in-water cream formulations at different concentrations and evaluate their physicochemical properties, stability, microbial quality, skin irritation potential, in vitro release behavior, mouse-tail antipsoriatic activity, histological effects, molecular docking profile, and ADMET characteristics. Methods: Chamomile oil was chemically profiled by GC-MS and incorporated into oil-in-water cream formulations coded C1, C2, C3, and C4, containing 1.25%, 2.5%, 5%, and 7.5% chamomile oil, respectively. The base cream without chamomile oil was coded C. Formulations were evaluated for organoleptic properties, pH, viscosity, spreadability, bleeding, loss on drying, accelerated stability, and microbial growth. Acute dermal irritation was assessed using an erythema and edema scoring system. Antipsoriatic activity was evaluated in an albino mouse-tail model using orthokeratosis and drug activity as outcome measures, with betamethasone as a reference comparator. The selected C3 formulation was further assessed using a modified Franz diffusion cell. Molecular docking was performed against psoriasis-related inflammatory targets, and ADMET prediction was conducted for the selected lead compound. Results: C1, C2, and C3 showed acceptable organoleptic and stability profiles, whereas C4 developed bleeding, phase separation, gritty texture, and instability and was excluded from mouse-tail efficacy testing. No microbial growth was reported after 24 hours. Drug activity increased with chamomile oil concentration, with C1, C2, and C3 showing 29.15%, 44.90%, and 61.12% activity, respectively, while betamethasone showed 66.38%. Histological findings supported improved granular layer formation and epidermal differentiation in treated groups, particularly with the 5% formulation. The Franz diffusion data for C3 showed decreasing reported percentage values from 67.35% at 15 minutes to 63.10% at 150 minutes and were therefore interpreted as time-specific calculated release estimates rather than confirmed cumulative release. Docking suggested predicted interactions of the lead compound with TNF-α and IL-17RA, while ADMET prediction showed favorable physicochemical features but a positive Ames toxicity prediction. Conclusion: The 5% chamomile oil cream showed the most favorable preclinical performance among the stable formulations, with drug activity numerically approaching the betamethasone comparator. The formulation demonstrated acceptable physicochemical characteristics, stability, and mouse-tail histological improvement under the tested conditions. However, release-method clarification, expanded toxicological evaluation, formulation optimization, larger controlled animal studies, and clinical validation are required before therapeutic application in humans