title: [Protection of Angelica sinensis against radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the Angelica Sinensis as a protecting agent affecting the radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis in an animal model,
  
  
  METHODS
  The thoraces of C57BL/6 mice were exposed to either sham irradiation or single fraction of 12 Gy. Four groups were defined: that received neither irradiation nor Angelica Sinensis (N group), that received Angelica Sinensis but no irradiation (A group), that underwent irradiation without Angelica Sinensis (NX group) and that received both Angelica Sinensis and irradiation (AX group). Mice were sacrificed at 1, 24, 72 hours and 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24 weeks post-irradiation. The lungs tissue were removed and processed for definitive analysis, including hydroxyproline content, HE and Masson staining, and the TGF-beta1, (Transforming Growth Factor beta1, TGF-beta1) mRNA expressions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with N and A group, there was some differences in the AX group, but a significant histological and pathologic changes in NX group. Non-irradiated groups (N and A group) exhibited low levels of hydroxyproline (0.775 +/- 0.024) microg/mg and (0.751 +/- 0.034) microg/mg, and there was a significantly elevated level of hydroxyproline in NX group (0.875 +/- 0.009) microg/mg (P < 0.05). AX group (0.782 +/- 0.010) microg/mg was in between the non-irradiated groups (N and A group) and the radiation-only group (NX group), and the difference between AX group and NX group was significant (P < 0.01). The results of real-time quantitative RT-PCR showed that the relative mRNA expressions of cytokine TGF-beta1 in NX group(249.655 +/- 16.320) was significantly higher than that in group A (1.254 +/- 0.061) and N (1.324 +/- 0.057) (P < 0.01), and that in AX group (108.076 +/- 9.870) decreased than that of NX group (P < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An animal model of mice with radiation-induced lung injure was established successfully. This study has demonstrated that Angelica sinensis in Hibits the progress of radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis, Possibly by down-regulating the expression of the proinflammatory cytokine Tgfb1. These data suggest that Angelica sinensis maybe useful in preventing and/or treating radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis in the clinic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radio-Chemotherapy, Zhongnan Hospital and Cancer Research Center, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, China.
authors.forename: Ya-hau
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Guang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Yun-feng
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Cong-hua
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Fu-xiang
authors.initials: FX
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Wen-jie
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D029971:Angelica sinensis; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008517:Phytotherapy; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D011833:Radiation Injuries, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*; D011837:Radiation-Protective Agents; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011837:Radiation-Protective Agents; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1