title: Andrographolide plays an important role in bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis treatment.
abstract: Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) leads to chronic inflammation and accumulation of macrophages, neutrophils, and lymphocytes in the alveoli. The factors involved in the development of PF include reactive oxygen species and tissue remodelling regulators. The present study demonstrates the effect of andrographolide on bleomycin (BLM)-induced PF in Sprague-Dawley rats. We investigated the total bronchoalveolar lavage fluid protein (BALF) and hydroxyproline (HYP) content along with the level of oxidative stress markers like malondialdehyde (MDA) and GSH/GSSG ratio. In addition, the levels of MMP-1 and TIMP-1 were also analysed. The results revealed an increase in BALF protein, HYP, and MDA contents and decrease in GSH/GSSG ratio of the lungs in animals treated with BLM. However, andrographolide treatment caused a reversal of the BLM induced changes after 20 or 40 days. Treatment with andrographolide suppressed oxidative stress with the decrease of MDA and the increase of the GSH/GSSG ratio. Andrographolide also improved the BLM mediated changes in the MMP-1/TIMP-1 ratio. Therefore, andrographolide has a potential therapeutic effect in the prevention of PF.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, The First Hospital of Jilin University Changchun, Jilin 130021, China.
authors.forename: Jia-Ning
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, The First Hospital of Jilin University Changchun, Jilin 130021, China.
authors.forename: Ya-Nan
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, The First Hospital of Jilin University Changchun, Jilin 130021, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Disease, The First Hospital of Jilin University Changchun, Jilin 130021, China ; Genetics Laboratory, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Oklahoma City 73104, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Shi-Bo
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiration, Military General Hospital in Beijing of PLA Beijing 100700, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Dong
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Li
keywords: Hydroxyproline; bronchoalveolar; inflammation; lymphocytes; macrophages