title: Protective Effect of Ginsenoside Rg1 on Bleomycin-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis in Rats: Involvement of Caveolin-1 and TGF-β1 Signal Pathway.
abstract: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive disease with poor prognosis and high mortality rate. Panax Notoginseng Saponins (PNS), extracted from Panax Notoginseng as a traditional Asian medicine, displayed a significant anti-fibrosis effect in liver and lung. However, whether Ginsenoside Rg1 (Rg1), an important and active ingredient of PNS, exerts anti-fibrotic activity on IPF still remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the effect of Rg1 on bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats. Bleomycin (5 mg/kg body weight) was intratracheally administrated to male rats. Rg1 (18, 36 and 72 mg/kg) was orally administered on the next day after bleomycin. Lungs were harvested at day 7 and 28 for the further experiments. Histological analysis revealed that bleomycin successfully induced pulmonary fibrosis, and that Rg1 restored the histological alteration of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis (PF), significantly decreased lung coefficient, scores of alveolitis, scores of PF as well as contents of alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and hydroxyproline (Hyp) in a dose-dependent manner in PF rats. Moreover, Rg1 increased the expression levels of Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) mRNA and protein, lowered the expression of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) mRNA and protein in the lung tissues of PF rats. These data suggest that Rg1 exhibits protective effect against bleomycin-induced PF in rats, which is potentially associated with the down-regulation of TGF-β1 and up-regulation of Cav-1.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center.
authors.forename: Heqin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Wenzhuo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Zhenghang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Haifang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Chong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001761:Bleomycin; D051242:Caveolin 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D036145:Ginsenosides / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006909:Hydroxyproline / Q000378:metabolism; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D020011:Protective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D001761:Bleomycin; D051242:Caveolin 1; D036145:Ginsenosides; D006909:Hydroxyproline; D020011:Protective Agents; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; C495537:Cav1 protein, rat; C498862:Acta2 protein, rat; C035054:ginsenoside Rg1