Pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic progressive disease with no effective therapy. Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) is thought to be a key profibrotic mediator and blocking its activity is therefore one of the targets of new treatment strategies for fibrosis. Decorin is an endogenous proteoglycan and one of the known inhibitors of TGF-beta. The short half-life of peptide-based therapeutic...

Neutrophil elastase plays pivotal roles in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis. The neutrophil elastase inhibitor, sivelestat, could alleviate pulmonary fibrosis; however, the antifibrotic mechanisms have not yet been clarified. We examined the antifibrotic mechanisms, mainly focusing on a key fibrotic cytokine, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, in this study. To elucidate the antifibroti...

5-Bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdUrd) is a thymidine analogue whose cellular effects are related to its incorporation into DNA. BrdUrd is a known radiosensitizing agent that could potentially enhance the activity of chemotherapeutic agents that interact directly with DNA. Therefore we studied the interaction of BrdUrd and bleomycin in a human head and neck squamous carcinoma cell line, SQ20B. Using ...

In an attempt to determine the possible role of Ku-dependent end joining in mutagenesis resulting from DNA double-strand breaks, mutations induced by bleomycin at the hprt locus in plateau phase normal CHO-K1 and Ku-deficient xrs-6 cells were examined. Plateau phase xrs-6 cells were 500-fold more sensitive to chronic bleomycin treatment than were CHO-K1 cells. XRCC4-deficient XR-1 cells were ap...

BACKGROUND Though not in regular practice, intralesional (IL) bleomycin has been used for the treatment of warts since the 1970s and on the other hand, till now cryotherapy is quite regularly used to treat warts. AIM Our aim was to assess the evidence for the efficacy of IL bleomycin, in comparison with a control group of similar sample receiving cryotherapy, in the treatment of cutaneous war...

Evidence derived from human and animal studies strongly supports the notion that dysfunctional alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) play a central role in determining the progression of inflammatory injury to pulmonary fibrosis. We formed the hypothesis that impaired production of the regulatory cytokine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) by injured AECs plays a role in the d...

Pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive disorder characterized by the loss of alveolar architecture through epithelial and endothelial cell apoptosis and fibroblast proliferation. Recent studies showed that angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity is increased in fibrotic tissues, and ACE inhibitors administered in vivo ameliorate fibrosis, suggesting that ACE may play a critical role. However,...

Bleomycin has been used most commonly in the treatment of Hodgkin's lymphoma, certain germ cell tumors (GCT) and for the sclerosis of recurrent pleural effusions. Bleomycin toxicity predominantly affects the skin and lungs. Skin toxicity includes Raynaud's phenomenon, hyperkeratosis, nail-bed changes and palmoplantar desquamation. Flagellate erythema is an unusual rash occurring specifically du...

AIM OF WORK To demonstrate the bleomycin induced histological changes in the lung and the possible protective and/or therapeutic effect of stem cell therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study was carried out on 36 adult male albino rats, classified into 4 groups: group I (control), group II (bleomycin treated group), group III (early stem cell treated group: immediately after bleomycin), group IV (...

Purpose: Bleomycin is an antibiotic medication that inhibits the synthesis of DNA, RNA, and proteins and is now used in a variety of medical conditions including vascular anomalies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of transmucosal intralesional injection of bleomycin in the management of tongue lymphatic malformations. Method: A single institutional case series was pr...