DNCB-Induced Atopic Dermatitis in Mice

Six-week-old female BALB/c mice were obtained from Samtako (Osan, Korea). A total of 25 mice were divided into five groups (n = 5): the vehicle phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), DNCB vehicle (PBS), DNCB and VAE (100 and 300 mg/kg), and DNCB and dexamethasone (DX, 5 mg/kg) groups. For sensitization, 20 μL of DNCB was applied once each ear (face side and back side of ear, once) in first week. Then, both ears of BALB/c mouse were challenged with DNCB (1%, 20 μL/ear, once) for 3 weeks. VAE (100 and 300 mg/kg) or DX (5 mg/kg) was orally administered by gavage for five consecutive days per week at the time of the DNCB challenge. Mice were provided with ad libitum access to food and water. The room was maintained with a 12 h light-dark cycle (lights on at 07:00 and lights off at 19:00) and controlled temperature (21 ± 2 °C). Mice were handle in accordance with the guidelines established by the Public Health Service Policy on the Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the experimental protocols were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (permission number #KRIBB-AEC-21259).