{"title":"[<i>Shenqi Chongcao</i> Formula ameliorates inflammatory response in rats with pulmonary fibrosis by activating the ASS1/src/STAT3 signaling pathway].","authors":"C He, W Chen, N Zhang, J Luan, S Wang, Y Zhang","doi":"10.12122/j.issn.1673-4254.2024.04.04","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To observe the effect of <i>Shenqi Chongcao</i> (SQCC) Formula on the ASS1/src/STAT3 signaling pathway in a rat model of lung fibrosis and explore its therapeutic mechanism.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 120 male SD rats were divided equally into 5 groups, including a blank control group with saline treatment and 4 groups of rat models of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis induced by intratracheal instillation of bleomycin. One day after modeling, the rat models were treated with daily gavage of 10 mL/kg saline, SQCC decoction (0.423 g/kg), pirfenidone (10 mL/kg), or intraperitoneal injection of arginine deiminase (ADI; 2.25 mg/kg, every 3 days) for 28 days. After the treatments, the lung tissues of the rats were collected for calculating the lung/body weight ratio, observing histopathology using HE and Masson staining, and analyzing the inflammatory cells in BALF using Giemsa staining. Serum chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) levels were measured with ELISA. The protein expressions of src, p-src<sup>Try529</sup>, STAT3, and p-STAT3<sup>Try705</sup> and the mRNA expressions of ASS1, src and STAT3 in the lung tissues were detected using Western blotting and RT-qPCR.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The neutrophil, macrophage and lymphocyte counts and serum levels of CCL2 and TGF-β1 were significantly lower in SQCC, pirfenidone and ADI treatment groups than in the model group at each time point of measurement (<i>P</i> < 0.05). P-src<sup>Try529</sup> and p-STAT3<sup>Try705</sup> protein expression levels and ASS1, src, and STAT3 mRNA in the lung tissues were also significantly lower in the 3 treatment groups than in the model group (<i>P</i> < 0.05).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>SQCC Formula can alleviate lung fibrosis in rats possibly by activating the ASS1/src/STAT3 signaling pathway in the lung tissues.</p>","PeriodicalId":18962,"journal":{"name":"Nan fang yi ke da xue xue bao = Journal of Southern Medical University","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11073932/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Nan fang yi ke da xue xue bao = Journal of Southern Medical University","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.12122/j.issn.1673-4254.2024.04.04","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: To observe the effect of Shenqi Chongcao (SQCC) Formula on the ASS1/src/STAT3 signaling pathway in a rat model of lung fibrosis and explore its therapeutic mechanism.
Methods: A total of 120 male SD rats were divided equally into 5 groups, including a blank control group with saline treatment and 4 groups of rat models of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis induced by intratracheal instillation of bleomycin. One day after modeling, the rat models were treated with daily gavage of 10 mL/kg saline, SQCC decoction (0.423 g/kg), pirfenidone (10 mL/kg), or intraperitoneal injection of arginine deiminase (ADI; 2.25 mg/kg, every 3 days) for 28 days. After the treatments, the lung tissues of the rats were collected for calculating the lung/body weight ratio, observing histopathology using HE and Masson staining, and analyzing the inflammatory cells in BALF using Giemsa staining. Serum chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) levels were measured with ELISA. The protein expressions of src, p-srcTry529, STAT3, and p-STAT3Try705 and the mRNA expressions of ASS1, src and STAT3 in the lung tissues were detected using Western blotting and RT-qPCR.
Results: The neutrophil, macrophage and lymphocyte counts and serum levels of CCL2 and TGF-β1 were significantly lower in SQCC, pirfenidone and ADI treatment groups than in the model group at each time point of measurement (P < 0.05). P-srcTry529 and p-STAT3Try705 protein expression levels and ASS1, src, and STAT3 mRNA in the lung tissues were also significantly lower in the 3 treatment groups than in the model group (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: SQCC Formula can alleviate lung fibrosis in rats possibly by activating the ASS1/src/STAT3 signaling pathway in the lung tissues.