Inhibitory Effect of Total Ginsenoside on Pulmonary Fibrosis Induced by Bleomycin is involved in Matrix Metalloproteinase

Pulmonary fibrosis is a refractory disease of the respiratory system. As the active components of Panax ginseng, total ginsenoside (TG) have been reported to have antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory and immune modulatory activity. We previously showed that TG has protective effect on pulmonary fibrosis. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether the mechanism of TG against pulmonary fibrosis is involved in the regulation of matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs). The pulmonary fibrosis model of BALB/c mice was replicated by injecting BLM into the trachea. TG (40, 80, 160 mg/kg/day) were given for 28 consecutive days after surgery. Pulmonary fibrosis was determined by measuring lung coefficient, Haematoxylin and Eosin (HE) staining, Masson's trichrome staining, and expression of the alpha smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA, a gene related to pulmonary fibrosis) in lung tissues. Real‐time quantitative PCR and western blot were used to detect matrix metalloproteinase‐2 (MMP‐2), matrixmetalloproteinase‐9 (MMP‐9) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐1 (TIMP‐1) mRNA and protein levels respectively. In the present study, TG (40, 80, and 160 mg/kg/d) treatment could evidently ameliorate pulmonary fibrosis and down‐regulate the expression of MMP‐2, MMP‐9 and TIMP‐1 mRNA and protein levels in BLM‐treated mice. The protective effect of TG on bleomycin induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice is related to the regulation of matrix metalloproteinases. Support or Funding Information This research was supported by the Social Program for Tackling Key Problems of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NO.81360660 and 81860732.) This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .