Effect of thalidomide on the alveolar epithelial cells in the lung fibrosis induced by bleomycin in mice

Introduction: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a relentlessly progressive and usually fatal lung disease of unknown etiology for which no effective treatments currently exist. In the adults type I and II pneumocytes, forms Components of the alveolar epithelial cells. In this study, we investigated the effect of thalidomide on the alveolar epithelial cells (type I and II pneumocytes) in the lung fibrosis induced by bleomycin in mice. Materials and methods: In this research, 32 male adult C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into 4 groups. Mice received in group Bleomycin, bleomycin sulfate, in group Bleomycin+Thalidomide, bleomycin besides thalidomide, in group Thalidomide, only thalidomide and in group carboxymethylcellulose, carboxymethylcellulose via intraperitoneum. At the end of experiment, mice lung samples were prepared and histological studies were performed on them. After the investigation of tissue slides, number of type I and II pneumocytes were calculated and results were analyzed by using one-way ANOVA. Results: Histological studies showed a significant decrease in the number of type I pneumocytes and a significant increase in the number of type II pneumocytes in the Bleomycin group in comparison with the carboxymethylcellulose group (p<0.001). But number of these cells (type I and II pneumocyte) in the Bleomycin+Thalidomide group increased and decreased respectively compared to the Bleomycin group (p<0.001). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that Thalidomide decreases number of pneumocytes II and increases pneumocytes I and Thereby reduces pulmonary fibrosis in the mice.