title: Effects of basic fibroblast growth factor and cyclin D1 on cigarette smoke-induced pulmonary vascular remodeling in rats.
abstract: Cigarette smoking may contribute to pulmonary hypertension in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by resulting in pulmonary vascular remodeling that involves pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell proliferation. This study investigated the effects of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and cyclin D1 on the pulmonary vascular remodeling in smoking-exposed rats. Twenty-four male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups. Three tobacco-exposed groups were exposed to the smoke produced by 20 cigarettes for 60 min, twice a day for two, four or eight weeks, and the control group were exposed to fresh air. The expression of bFGF and cyclin D1 in the pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells were determined using immunohistochemistry. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was conducted to determine the expression levels of bFGF and cyclin D1 mRNA. In addition, the expression of bFGF and cyclin D1 proteins was evaluated by western blotting. The expression of bFGF and cyclin D1 at the mRNA and protein levels was shown to increase with the duration of smoke exposure (P<0.05). The correlation analysis indicated the expression of bFGF and cyclin D1 was positively associated with the pulmonary vessel wall thickness. The expression of bFGF was positively associated with that of cyclin D1. Collectively, the data demonstrated that the upregulation of bFGF and cyclin D1 occurred in rats subjected to smoke exposure, which may be associated with the abnormal proliferation of the smooth muscle cells in the pulmonary arteries.
authors.affiliation: Hefei Prevention and Treatment Center for Occupational Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui 230022, P.R. China ; Department of Respiratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui 230022, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Sijing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui 230022, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215006, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Daxiong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui 230022, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Gengyun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Hefei Prevention and Treatment Center for Occupational Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui 230022, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Junsheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui 230022, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: basic fibroblast growth factor; cigarette smoke; cyclin D1; smooth muscle