Keywords
Abstract
Pulmonary fibrosis is a fatal interstitial lung disease characterized by abnormal fibroblast activation and overabundant extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation without efficient clinical therapeutic interventions. The transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1)/Smad3 signaling pathway is the fulcrum molecular mechanism of this pathologic process. Isatis indigotica Fort. (Banlangen), a traditional Chinese medicine for the elimination of heat and detoxification, contains bioactive monomeric compounds with pronounced pharmacological activities in anti-inflammation and anti-oxidation. The specific regulatory effect on the TGF-β1/Smad3 pathway and pulmonary fibrosis remains to be elucidated. The purpose of this work is to conduct extensive research on the modulatory effect of the monomeric active components of Isatis indigotica on the TGF-β1/Smad3 pathway, and elucidate their protective effect and action mechanism on a bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis model, and thus to offer new natural drug leads and theoretical basis for the prevention and therapy of pulmonary fibrosis.
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