Experimental study on effect of Qidan granule in treatment of pulmonary fibrosis in rats

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of Qidan granule on blemycinAS-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats and its mechanism. Methods A total of 70 SD rats were randomly divided into the normal group, the model group, Qidan group and the hydrocortisone group and observed for 28 days and 42 days, respectively. Rat pulmonary fibrosis was induced by intrabronchial injection of blemycinAS. Treatment started from day 14 to day 42 with Qidan granule and Hydrocortisone for 14 days （day 28 group） and for 28 days （day 42 group）, respectively. The lung pathological grades were observed by hematoxylin and eosin （HE） staining and expressions of transforming growth factorβ（TGF-β1） protein and tumor necrosis factor α（TNF-α） protein were tested by the immunohistochemical technique. Results （ 1 ）The pulmonary fibrosis was alleviated significantly in Qidan granule group compared with those in model group and hydrocortisone group （P〈0.01）. （2）In Qidan group and hydrocortisone group, the expression of TGF-β1 protein was 1.71±0.17 and 1.78±0.17 in day 28 group and day 42 group, respectively. The expression of TNF-α protein was 2.16±0.40 and 1.98±0.33 in day 28 group and day 42 group, respectively. The expression of TGF-β1and TNF-α protein was signi~cantly different from those in the model group and the hydrocortisone group （P〈0.01）. Conclusion Qidan granule ameliorates the pulmonary fibrosis by decreasing expressions of TGF-β1 and TNF-α proteins in lung tissue. Key words: Pulmonary fibrosis;  Transforming growth factor-beta;  Tumor necrosis factor