Attenuation of Bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats by flavocoxid treatment

Pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive fatal lung disorder with significantly high mortality rates. Bleomycin (BLM) is one of the most commonly used chemotherapeutic agents for treatment of several carcinomas. The most severe adverse effect of BLM is pulmonary toxicity; therefore, BLM has been repeatedly reported to be considered amongst the most widely used agents for induction of experimental pulmonary fibrosis. In the current study, flavocoxid has been investigated for its ability to ameliorate BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis. BLM was instilled intratracheally and flavocoxid was administered orally (20 mg/kg) for 5 weeks; one week pre- and 5 weeks post BLM instillation. Flavocoxid significantly decreased lung/body weight index, BALF's lactate dehydrogenase activity, total protein content and total cell count, lymphocyte and neutrophil counts. Flavocoxid significantly decreased lung MDA content, increased lung GSH content, SOD activity, serum total antioxidant capacity and decreased lung NO content. Moreover, flavocoxid reduced lung content of IL-10. In addition, flavocoxid significantly ameliorated histological changes and prevented collagen deposition with paralleled decrease in lung hydroxyproline content. In conclusion; flavocoxid can be proposed to be a potential therapeutic agent for management of pulmonary fibrosis.