title: Rosiglitazone abrogates bleomycin-induced scleroderma and blocks profibrotic responses through peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma.
abstract: The nuclear hormone receptor, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-gamma, originally identified as a key mediator of adipogenesis, is expressed widely and implicated in diverse biological responses. Both natural and synthetic agonists of PPAR-gamma abrogated the stimulation of collagen synthesis and myofibroblast differentiation induced by transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta in vitro. To characterize the role of PPAR-gamma in the fibrotic process in vivo, the synthetic agonist rosiglitazone was used in a mouse model of scleroderma. Rosiglitazone attenuated bleomycin-induced skin inflammation and dermal fibrosis as well as subcutaneous lipoatrophy and counteracted the up-regulation of collagen gene expression and myofibroblast accumulation in the lesioned skin. Rosiglitazone treatment reduced the induction of the early-immediate transcription factor Egr-1 in situ without also blocking the activation of Smad2/3. In both explanted fibroblasts and skin organ cultures, rosiglitazone prevented the stimulation of collagen gene transcription and cell migration elicited by TGF-beta. Rosiglitazone-driven adipogenic differentiation of both fibroblasts and preadipocytes was abrogated in the presence of TGF-beta; this effect was accompanied by the concomitant down-regulation of cellular PPAR-gamma mRNA expression. Collectively, these results indicate that rosiglitazone treatment attenuates inflammation, dermal fibrosis, and subcutaneous lipoatrophy via PPAR-gamma in a mouse model of scleroderma and suggest that pharmacological PPAR-gamma ligands, widely used as insulin sensitizers in the treatment of type-2 diabetes mellitus, may be potential therapies for scleroderma.
authors.affiliation: Section of Rheumatology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago IL 60611, USA.
authors.forename: Minghua
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Denisa S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Melichian
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Warner-Blankenship
authors.forename: Asish K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Varga
mesh_terms: D017667:Adipocytes / Q000166:cytology; D000818:Animals; D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / Q000633:toxicity; D001761:Bleomycin / Q000633:toxicity; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects; D003094:Collagen / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D005355:Fibrosis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007249:Inflammation / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D047495:PPAR gamma / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D000077154:Rosiglitazone; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D045162:Thiazolidinediones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D047495:PPAR gamma; D045162:Thiazolidinediones; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D000077154:Rosiglitazone; D001761:Bleomycin; D003094:Collagen