A Chinese Traditional Therapy for Bleomycin-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis in Mice.

Lifang Sun,Minjie Mao,Xiaojie Zhang,Cuiyun Zuo,Zhisheng Yan

doi:10.1155/2018/8491487

Abstract

Pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic and fatal disease of lung tissue with high incidence and mortality in the world. The exploration of effective treatment for pulmonary fibrosis remains an urgent challenge. In our study, Qingfei Xieding was investigated as a novel Chinese traditional patent medicine against pulmonary fibrosis. A pulmonary fibrosis mouse model was constructed by injecting with bleomycin sulfate. Following Qingfei Xieding administration, lung samples were collected to assess pulmonary phenotype changes by analyzing lung coefficient, wet/dry, and histopathologic section. Levels of nitric oxide (NO), hydroxyproline (HYP), malondialdehyde (MDA), and total antioxidant capacity were measured to evaluate the degree of oxidation. A single-cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) assay was used to evaluate bleomycin-induced DNA damage. Western blotting and real-time quantitative PCR were performed to determine the abundance of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and fibronectin (FN). In the present study, Qingfei Xieding administration significantly attenuated bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice by reducing lung coefficient, wet/dry, NO, HYP, and MDA as well as the expression of iNOS, CTGF, α-SMA, FN, and DNA damage. The results indicated that Qingfei Xieding is effective to resist oxidative damage and histopathologic lesion, serving a protection role on bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis.

Highlights

Pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic lung disease that is characterized by chronic inflammation destruction, fibroblast proliferation, lung tissue damage, and extracellular matrix deposition [1, 2]
Determination of hydroxyproline concentration could provide useful information for the diagnosis and prognosis of pulmonary fibrosis caused by disorders of collagen metabolism, since hydroxyproline is a significant biomarker of collagen deposition. e content of hydroxyproline in the BLM-treated model lungs raised approximately two-fold compared with that in the control groups
Qingfei Xieding given to model groups contributed to the significant decrease of lung collagen content triggered by bleomycin, but it has no adverse influence on that of control groups

Summary

Introduction

Pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic lung disease that is characterized by chronic inflammation destruction, fibroblast proliferation, lung tissue damage, and extracellular matrix deposition [1, 2]. E current and popular therapeutic approaches involve treatments with corticosteroids, antifibrotic drugs, immune-suppressant, and cytotoxin [5, 6], but clinical research studies have shown that those therapies are of limited efficacy and often incur intolerable side effects. With large numbers of clinical and experimental research studies, many Chinese classical formulas are made into patent medicines and approved for their efficacy, safety, and convenience. It is wildly applied as complementary or adjunctive therapies for symptom management and body maintaining. Erefore, more and more CTPMs for specific diseases are approved and used It is wildly applied as complementary or adjunctive therapies for symptom management and body maintaining. erefore, more and more CTPMs for specific diseases are approved and used

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion