title: [Effect of tranilast on myocardial fibrosis in mice with viral myocarditis].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the role of tranilast in the pathogenesis of myocardiac fibrosis in viral myocarditis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-two BALB/C mice were randomly divided into control, model and intervention groups (n=24 each). Mice in the model and intervention groups were infected with Coxsackievirus B3 to induce viral myocarditis. The intervention group was given with tranilast (200 mg/kg) by gavage until sacrifice for sampling, while the other two groups were administered with the same volume of normal saline. Cardiac tissues were obtained from 8 mice on 7, 14 and 28 days after modeling. The mast cell number was observed by toluidine blue staining and thionine staining. The cardiac tissues were stained with hematoxylin and eosin as well as masson trichrome to observe the pathological changes in cardiac tissues. The mRNA and protein expression of osteopontin and transforming growth factor-β1 was measured by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the model group, the mRNA and protein expression of osteopontin reached the highest level on the 7th day, decreasing from the 14th day, and became to the least on the 28th day; while the expression of TGF-β1 increased from the 7th day, reaching a peak on the 14th day, and decreased slightly on the 28th day. The mRNA and protein expression of TGF-β1 and OPN was lower in the intervention group than the model group (P<0.05), but higher than the control group (P<0.05). The expression of OPN mRNA was positively correlated to the number of mast cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Tranilast can reduce myocardial fibrosis by decreasing the number of mast cells, inhibiting the expression of TGF-β1 and OPN.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410013, China. ccyzdh@126.com.
authors.forename: Lin-Feng
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Gui
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Chun-Yuan
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005355:Fibrosis; D008297:Male; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009205:Myocarditis / Q000150:complications*; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology*; D053495:Osteopontin / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D062367:ortho-Aminobenzoates / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D062367:ortho-Aminobenzoates; D053495:Osteopontin; C012293:tranilast