title: The preventive role of levosimendan against bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In this study, the effects of levosimendan used in the treatment of acute congestive heart failure upon pulmonary fibrosis in rats induced with bleomycin (BL) were analyzed.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 33 male Sprague-Dawley type rats were categorized into five groups randomly. About 2.5U/kg BL was intratracheally administered to the rats in the BL, BL+L1, BL+L2, and BL+L3 groups, and 0.9% saline was intratracheally administered at the same rate to the control group. 0.3, 1, and 3mg/kg levosimendan was intraperitoneally administered to the BL+L1, BL+L2, and BL+L3 groups, respectively. Blood and tissue samples were taken from the rats euthanized to determine the changes in erythrocyte enzyme activities and to conduct histopathological evaluations after 14 days. With values between 0 and 3, histopathological scoring damage was assessed by the presence of inflammation and fibrosis in a semiquantitative manner.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with those in the C group, glutathione reductase (GR) and Catalase (CAT) enzymes decreased in the BL group; compared with that in the BL group, GR increased in the BL+L1 and BL+L3 groups, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD) increased in the BL+L3 group, and CAT increased in the BL+L2 and BL+L3 groups (p<0.05). In the histopathological evaluation, fibrosis occurred in all rats in the BL group, and tissue damage was noticed to be generally less in the BL+L1, BL+L2, and BL+L3 groups (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results obtained from biochemical and histopathological evaluations indicate that levosimendan had an anti-fibrotic effect without a dose-dependent response on pulmonary fibrosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Erzincan University, Erzincan, Turkey. Electronic address: mehmetgurbuzel@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gürbüzel
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Erzincan University, Erzincan, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ilyas
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sayar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Erzincan University, Erzincan, Turkey.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cankaya
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gürbüzel
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Erzincan University, Erzincan, Turkey.
authors.forename: Levent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Demirtas
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Erzincan University, Erzincan, Turkey.
authors.forename: Eftal Murat
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Bakirci
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Erzincan University, Erzincan, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ilyas
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Capoglu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001761:Bleomycin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002374:Catalase / Q000378:metabolism; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D005980:Glutathione Reductase / Q000378:metabolism; D006835:Hydrazones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007249:Inflammation / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D010734:Phosphogluconate Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D011724:Pyridazines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D000077464:Simendan
chemical_list: D006835:Hydrazones; D011724:Pyridazines; D001761:Bleomycin; D000077464:Simendan; D010734:Phosphogluconate Dehydrogenase; D002374:Catalase; D005980:Glutathione Reductase
keywords: Bleomycin; Erythrocyte enzymes; Levosimendan; Pulmonary fibrosis; Rat