Inhalation of crystalline silica particles leads to pulmonary fibrosis, eventually resulting in respiratory failure and death. There are few effective drugs that can delay the progression of this disease; thus, patients with silicosis are usually only offered supportive care. Dioscin, a steroidal saponin, exhibits many biological activities and health benefits including its protective effects a...

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a major cause of respiratory failure in critically ill patients and common outcome of various lung interstitial diseases. Its mortality remains high, and no effective pharmacotherapy, in addition to artificial ventilation and transplantation, exists. As such, the administration of mesenchymal stem or stromal cells (MSCs) is currently investigated as a new ...

BACKGROUND Metabolites of arachidonic acid such as prostacyclin (PGI2) have been shown to participate in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis by inhibiting the expression of pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic mediators. In this investigation, we examined whether iloprost, a stable PGI2 analogue, could prevent bleomycin-induced pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis in a mouse model. METHODS Mic...

Pulmonary fibrosis is a common consequence of many lung diseases and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. The molecular mechanisms underlying the development of pulmonary fibrosis remain poorly understood. One model used successfully to study pulmonary fibrosis over the past few decades is the bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis model. We aimed to identify the genes associated with fibr...

Honeycombing in general is a sign of severe end-stage fibrosis. Here we present two cases, where the combination of emphysema, acute inflammation and pulmonary embolism gave an appearance of honeycombing seen in pulmonary fibrosis. HRCT interpretation in the evaluation of acutely ill patients with pulmonary infection is a challenge. Our case reports emphasize the importance of a multidisciplina...

BACKGROUND We have previously shown that small molecule PDGF receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (RTKI) can drastically attenuate radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis if the drug administration starts at the time of radiation during acute inflammation with present but limited effects against acute inflammation. To rule out interactions of the drug with acute inflammation, we investigated here i...

Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive sphingolipid metabolite involved in many critical cellular processes, including proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis, through interaction with a family of five G protein-coupled receptors (S1P1-5). Some reports have implicated S1P as an important inflammatory mediator of the pathogenesis of airway inflammation, but the role of S1P3 in the patho...

Pulmonary fibrosis is a common feature of numerous lung disorders, including interstitial lung diseases, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Despite the prevalence of pulmonary fibrosis, the molecular mechanisms governing inflammatory and fibroproliferative aspects of the disorder are not clear. Adenosine is a purine-signaling nucleoside that is generated in excess during cellula...

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive and lethal form of interstitial lung disease that lacks effective therapies at present. Glycyrrhizic acid (GA), a natural compound extracted from a traditional Chinese herbal medicine Glycyrrhiza glabra, was recently reported to benefit lung injury and liver fibrosis in animal models, yet whether GA has a therapeutic effect on pulmonary fibrosis is...