Abstract: OBJECTIVE To study the preventive effect of 3- (3- pyridylmethylidene)-2-indolinone(PMID) on pulmonary fibrosis induced by silica (SiO2) in mice. METHODS A pulmonary fibrosis model of mice induced by SiO2 was established, and the model dosage of SiO2 was determined. After modeling, the mice were ig given sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-Na), PMID 5, 15 and 20 mg·kg-1 and pirfenidone (PFD) 15 mg·kg-1, twice daily for 28 d. HE staining was used to observe the pathological injury to lung tissues. Masson staining was used to analyze the formation of collagens in lung tissues. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to analyze the expression of fibrosis related proteins transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), collagen alpha-2 typeⅠ(ColⅠA2), α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and inflammatory markers, including CD11b, F4/80 and CD3. The mRNA expression of interleukin 6 (IL- 6) in lung tissues was analyzed by real-time PCR. RESULTS Compared with the normal control group, pathological injuries to lung tissues of model group were severe, lung tissues were consolidated, inflammatory cells infiltrated, and the inflammatory score increased significantly (P<0.01). The model group had a large amount of collagen accumulation, the blue staining part was greater than 80% (P<0.01), and the lung tissue had high expressions of TGF-β, ColⅠA2 and α-SMA (P<0.01). At the same time, the mRNA expression level of IL-6 was higher than that of the normal control group (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the alveolar structure in the PMID administration group was normal, and PMID significantly alleviated the histopathological damage (P<0.05). Only a small number of collagens were accumulated and the blue staining part was less than 20% (P<0.05). PMID could significantly decrease the expression of TGF-β, ColⅠA2 and α-SMA, and the number of neutrophils and macrophages in the PMID group decreased significantly (P<0.05), while the mRNA expression level of IL- 6 was significantly reduced (P<0.01). CONCLUSION PMID can effectively prevent the pulmonary fibrosis induced by SiO2 in mice.
Key words: 3-(3-pyridylmethylidene)-2-indolinone; silica; pulmonary fibrosis; inflammatory cell infiltration