Protective efficacy of pirfenidone in rats with pulmonary fibrosis induced by bleomycin

• Published in: Sarcoidosis, vasculitis, and diffuse lung diseases vasculitis, and diffuse lung diseases, 2023-01, Vol.40 (3), p.e2023036
• Main Authors: Demirkol, Baris, Gul, Sule, Cörtük, Mustafa, Akanıl Fener, Neslihan, Yavuzsan, Eminegül, Eren, Ramazan, Baydili, Kursad Nuri, Çekmen, Mustafa Baki, Cetinkaya, Erdogan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Original
• ISSN: 2532-179X; 1124-0490; 2532-179X
• DOI: 10.36141/svdld.v40i3.13847

Bleomycin causes increased production of reactive oxygen species, leads to pulmonary toxicity, fibroblast activation, and fibrosis.BACKGROUNDBleomycin causes increased production of reactive oxygen species, leads to pulmonary toxicity, fibroblast activation, and fibrosis.This study aimed to evaluate the protective effect of pirfenidone on bleomycin-induced lung toxicity in rats.OBJECTIVESThis study aimed to evaluate the protective effect of pirfenidone on bleomycin-induced lung toxicity in rats.Twenty-eight adult rats were randomly divided into 3 groups; Bleomycin (B group, n=10), Bleomycin and Pirfenidone (B-PND group, n=13), and the control group (n=5). The bleomycin regimen was administered for 9 weeks. Pirfenidone was administered at 100 mg/kg daily. Total antioxidant level (TAS), total oxidant level (TOS), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), transforming growth factor (TGF-β1), matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI) levels were studied. Histopathologically, sections were stained with Hematoxylin-eosin and Masson-trichrome for grading-scoring according to the Ashcroft score.METHODSTwenty-eight adult rats were randomly divided into 3 groups; Bleomycin (B group, n=10), Bleomycin and Pirfenidone (B-PND group, n=13), and the control group (n=5). The bleomycin regimen was administered for 9 weeks. Pirfenidone was administered at 100 mg/kg daily. Total antioxidant level (TAS), total oxidant level (TOS), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), transforming growth factor (TGF-β1), matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI) levels were studied. Histopathologically, sections were stained with Hematoxylin-eosin and Masson-trichrome for grading-scoring according to the Ashcroft score.Stage 3 fibrosis was observed in 50% of the B group rats, stage 3 and higher fibrosis was never detected in the B-PND group and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.003). When evaluating tissue inflammation, the inflammation was higher in the B-PND group than in the other groups (p