Discussion
RECRUITMENT, SKIN INFLAMMATION
This study aimed to characterize the effects of orally administered prednisolone on TLR7-driven immune responses using To our knowledge, this is the first clinical study to examine the effect of prednisolone on TLR7-driven cellular and cytokine responses TLR7 activation generally drives IRF and NF-κB signaling, playing an important role in the recruitment of immune cells to the dermis (Interestingly, oral prednisolone and topical clobetasol treatment did not significantly suppress dermal cytokine responses in an earlier human challenge study that applied intradermal LPS injections, driving TLR4-mediated responses (Finally, the In this clinical study, we successfully demonstrated that orally administered prednisolone at a conventional clinical dose suppresses IMQ-induced skin inflammation in healthy volunteers, which underlines the potential value of this cutaneous challenge model for future clinical pharmacology studies with novel anti-inflammatory compounds targeting the TLR7 pathway. In these studies, prednisolone can be used as a benchmark.