Effect of Feitai on bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats.
The current therapeutic approaches for pulmonary fibrosis, which is characterized by fibroblast proliferation and extracellular matrix remodeling, are unsatisfactory. Feitai, consisting of several herbs, is a folk formula for pulmonary tuberculosis therapy in China. To investigate the effects of Feitai on pulmonary fibrosis, Feitai was administered orally to bleomycin (BLM)-treated rats, and the lung toxicity effects were evaluated according to inflammatory cell count, protein concentration, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), malondialdehyde level and hydroxyproline content in lung tissue 28 days post-BLM. Serial sections of the lung were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and Masson trichrome, respectively. The degree of fibrosis was assessed quantitatively using LEICA QWin image analyzer. Results showed that Feitai inhibited BLM-induced lung fibrotic lesions in a dose-dependent manner as reflected by decreased the lung hydroxyproline content and lung fibrosis fraction 28 days after BLM instillation. Treatment with Feitai also significantly ameliorated the BLM-induced lung toxicity effects detected in BALF and lung tissue. The effects in vitro on WI-38 human lung fibroblast cell line showed that Feitai significantly reduced the cell proliferation and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta stimulated type I collagen synthesis. These results strongly demonstrate that Feitai may be useful in the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.
Gong
Li-kun
LK
State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China.
Li
Xiang-hong
XH
Wang
Hui
H
Zhang
Ling
L
Chen
Fang-ping
FP
Cai
Yan
Y
Qi
Xin-ming
XM
Liu
Lin-lin
LL
Liu
Yong-zhen
YZ
Wu
Xiong-fei
XF
Huang
Cheng-gang
CG
Ren
Jin
J
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D001761:Bleomycin; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D018893:Bronchoalveolar Lavage; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D024042:Collagen Type I / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D006909:Hydroxyproline / Q000378:metabolism; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D024042:Collagen Type I; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; C500582:Feitai; D001761:Bleomycin; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D006909:Hydroxyproline