(a) C57BL/6 mice were fed with a WD or a standard chow diet (CD) for 6 weeks and then injected with IL-23 minicircle DNA (MC) or control GFP MC. After MC delivery, mice were maintained on their respective diets for an additional 4 weeks. (b) Serum levels of IL-23 by ELISA of each group at 24 hours after MC delivery. (c) Body weight, (d) clinical photographs showing erythema and scales, (e) ear thickness, (f) image of H&E section (scale bars, 50 μm), (g) histological analysis of epidermal thickness, (h) representative images of immunohistochemical Ki-67 (scale bars, 50 μm) and (i) gene expression of K16 in ear skin. All of the data are presented as mean± SEM. 4 mice per group. Data are representative of two independent experiments. * p <0.05, ** p <0.01,*** p <0.001,ns, not significant, by using one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni’s test.