Influence of a DNA-hsp65 vaccine on bleomycin-induced lung injury.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effects of immunization with a DNA-hsp65 vaccine in an experimental model of pulmonary fibrosis.


METHODS
A total of 120 male C57BL/6 mice were distributed into four groups: SS, injected with saline (placebo) and then receiving intratracheal (IT) instillation of saline; SB, injected with saline (placebo) and then receiving IT instillation of bleomycin; PB, treated with plasmid only, without bacterial genome, and then receiving IT instillation of bleomycin; and BB, treated with the vaccine and then receiving IT instillation of bleomycin. Bleomycin was instilled 15 days after the last immunization, and the animals were killed six weeks thereafter. The left and right lungs were removed, the former for morphological analysis and the latter for hydroxyproline measurements.


RESULTS
The proportion of deaths within the first 48 h after the IT instillation (deaths attributed to the surgical procedure) was higher in the SB group than in the SS group (57.7% vs. 11.1%). The mean area of pulmonary interstitial septa was greater in the SB and PB groups (53.1 +/- 8.6% and 53.6+/-9.3%, respectively) than in the SS and BB groups (32.9 +/- 2.7% and 34.3 +/- 6.1%, respectively). The mean area of interstitial septa stained by picrosirius was greater in the SB, PB and BB groups than in the SS group (8.2 +/- 4.9%, 7.2 +/- 4.2% and 6.6 +/- 4.1%, respectively, vs. 2.0+/-1.4%). The total hydroxyproline content in the lung was significantly lower in the SS group (104.9 +/- 20.9 pg/lung) than in the other groups (SB: 160.4 +/- 47.8 pg/lung; PB: 170.0 +/- 72.0 pg/lung; and BB: 162.5 +/- 39.7 pg/lung).


CONCLUSIONS
Immunization with the DNA-hsp65 vaccine reduced the deposition of noncollagen matrix in a model of bleomycin-induced lung lesion.
Padua
Adriana Ignacio de
AI
Departamento de Clínica Médica, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto da Universidade, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil.
Silva
Célio Lopes
CL
Ramos
Simone Gusmão
SG
Faccioli
Lúcia Helena
LH
Martinez
José Antônio Baddini
JA
D000818:Animals; D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001761:Bleomycin; D018834:Chaperonin 60; D018833:Chaperonins / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D011897:Random Allocation; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D018834:Chaperonin 60; D019444:Vaccines, DNA; C074119:heat-shock protein 65, Mycobacterium; D001761:Bleomycin; D018833:Chaperonins