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[Baicalin prevents the up-regulation of connective tissue growth factor in fibrotic lungs of rats.] [Ariticle in Chinese]

JIA Hui, CHEN Xiao-Ling, CHEN Chao, HU Yu-Yan, YUN Xiao-Jing

Department of Pathophysiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences； Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmaceutical Science, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050017, China； Department of Nursing, Medical College of Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056002, China

Abstract

To clarify the mechanism underlying the preventive effect of baicalin (Bai) on fibrosis in lung, we investigated the influence of Bai on the up-regulation of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in fibrotic lungs. Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into four groups randomly: normal saline (NS)+NS group (a single intratracheal instillation of NS plus i.p. injection of NS), NS+Bai group (intratracheal instillation of NS plus i.p. injection of Bai), bleomycin (BLM)+NS group (intratracheal instillation of BLM plus i.p. injection of NS) and BLM+Bai group (intratracheal instillation of BLM plus i.p. injection of Bai). All the i.p. injections were performed once daily. On day 28 after intratracheal instillation of BLM or NS, the rats were sacrificed for lung tissue sampling. As the index of the severity of pulmonary fibrosis, the content of hydroxyproline in lungs was analyzed by chloramine T method. The expression levels of CTGF mRNA and protein in the lungs were detected by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, respectively. The results showed that, compared to the rats in NS+NS group, the rats in BLM+NS group showed increased hydroxyproline content and higher levels of CTGF mRNA and protein expressions (P<0.01), suggesting that BLM had induced fibrosis in lung and up-regulated CTGF expression in the fibrotic lungs. Administration of different dosages of Bai (6, 12.5 and 50 mg/kg per d, for 28 days) into the BLM-treated rats reduced the increased content of hydroxyproline, and ameliorated the up-regulation of CTGF mRNA and protein levels, respectively. These results suggest that Bai could prevent the up-regulation of CTGF expression in fibrotic lungs of rats receiving BLM instillation, which might be one of the mechanisms underlying the preventive effect of Bai on pulmonary fibrosis.

Key words: baicalin; connective tissue growth factor; fibrosis; lung; rats

Received: 2010-09-10　　Accepted: 2010-11-03

Corresponding author: 陈晓玲　　E-mail: chen_xiaoling123@126.com

Citing This Article：

JIA Hui, CHEN Xiao-Ling, CHEN Chao, HU Yu-Yan, YUN Xiao-Jing. [Baicalin prevents the up-regulation of connective tissue growth factor in fibrotic lungs of rats.] [Ariticle in Chinese] . Acta Physiol Sin 2010; 62 (6): 535-540 (in Chinese with English abstract).