Pathogenesis of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis and Modulating Effect of Chinese Medicine： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis （IPF）， as a progressive lung disease， has a poor prognosis and no reliable and effective therapies. IPF is mainly treated by organ transplantation and administration of chemical drugs， which are ineffective and induce side effects， failing to meet the clinical needs. Therefore， developing safer and more effective drugs has become an urgent task， which necessitates clear understanding of the pathogenesis of IPF. The available studies about the pathogenesis of IPF mainly focus on macrophage polarization， epithelial-mesenchymal transition （EMT）， oxidative stress， and autophagy， while few studies systematically explain the principles and links of the pathogeneses. According to the traditional Chinese medicine theory， Qi deficiency and blood stasis and Qi-Yang deficiency are the key pathogeneses of IPF. Therefore， the Chinese medicines or compound prescriptions with the effects of replenishing Qi and activating blood， warming Yang and tonifying Qi， and eliminating stasis and resolving phlegm are often used to treat IPF. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that such medicines play a positive role in inhibiting macrophage polarization， restoring redox balance， inhibiting EMT， and regulating cell autophagy. However， few studies report how Chinese medicines regulate the pathways in the treatment of IPF. By reviewing the latest articles in this field， we elaborate on the pathogenesis of IPF and provide a comprehensive overview of the mechanism of the active ingredients or compound prescriptions of Chinese medicines in regulating IPF. Combining the pathogenesis of IPF with the modulating effects of Chinese medicines， we focus on exploring systemic treatment options for IPF， with a view to providing new ideas for the in-depth study of IPF and the research and development of related drugs.

Metabonomic Analysis of Wenfei Huaxian Granules Against Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis in Mice / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo investigate the changes of differential metabolites in the serum of mice at different stages of bleomycin sulfate（BLM）-induced pulmonary fibrosis modeling and administration， and the mechanism of Wenfei Huaxian granules（WHG）against idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. MethodMice were randomly divided into control group， control group of 14 days， model group， model group of 14 days， low-dose WHG group and high-dose WHG group. BLM（0.04 U per mouse）was injected into the trachea of mice in the model group， model group of 14 days， low-dose WHG group and high-dose WHG group， and sterile normal saline was injected into the trachea of mice in the control group and control group of 14 days. Mice of low-dose WHG group and high-dose WHG group were given different doses of WHG by gavage every day after injection of BLM， and mice of control group， control group of 14 days， model group and model group of 14 days were given sterile water by gavage every day. The peripheral blood of mice in the control group of 14 days and model group of 14 days were taken to prepare serum after injection of BLM for 14 days， and the peripheral blood and other materials of mice in the other groups were taken after continuous administration for 28 days. The bronchoalveolar lavage fluid（BALF）was collected for leucocyte differential count， the pathological examination and hydroxyproline（HYP）content determination of lung tissues of mice were performed， and the small molecule metabolites in serum samples of mice in each group were determined by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry（UHPLC-MS）. Principal component analysis（PCA）and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis（OPLS-DA）were conducted to screen differential metabolites and their biological functions were analyzed. ResultCompared with the control group， a large number of continuous fibrotic foci appeared in the lung tissue of mice in the model group， the alveolitis score， fibrosis degree score and HYP content increased significantly（P<0.01）， and the total number of leukocytes， macrophages and lymphocytes in BALF increased significantly（P<0.05）. A total of 33 differential metabolites were screened between the control group of 14 days and model group of 14 days， mainly lipid metabolites， which were mainly involved in oxidative damage and inflammatory process. A total of 34 differential metabolites， mainly amino acid metabolites， were screened between the control group and model group， mainly involving nucleic acid damage and inflammatory process. Compared with the model group， the HYP content， fibrosis score and alveolitis score in the lung tissue of mice from high-dose WHG group decreased significantly（P<0.05， P<0.01）， and the total number of lymphocytes in BALF decreased significantly（P<0.05）. Compared with the model group， 27， 40 differential metabolites were identified in the serum of mice from the low-dose WHG group and high-dose WHG group separately. There were totally 9 common differential metabolites between the model group and low-dose WHG group/high-dose WHG group， which mainly involved in the metabolic pathways of inflammation related lipids metabolism， arginine and tryptophan metabolism， and the change trends in low-dose WHG group and high-dose WHG group were significantly back-regulated compared with the model group. ConclusionWHG can alleviate BLM-induced pulmonary fibrosis， collagen deposition and inflammatory reaction in mice， and its anti-fibrotic effect may be related to the adjusting of inflammatory factors， nitric oxide and oxidative stress related metabolic pathways.

The possibility of phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitors as drug therapy for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis / 中国临床药理学与治疗学

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive, irreversible and typical chronic fibrotic lung disease. In recent years, significant progress has been made in the pathophysiology, clinical diagnosis and treatment of IPF. However, to date, there is still no cure for IPF. The second messenger cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) inhibits fibroblast proliferation or differentiation into myofibroblasts during the development of IPF. Phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) is a major camp-degrading enzyme in lung fibroblasts, which is up-regulated during the progression of fibrosis. PDE4 inhibitors have anti-fibrosis effects in vivo and in vitro in IPF models. In addition, PDE4 is widely involved in inflammatory processes, which are also active in the pathogenesis of IPF. Thus, PDE4 inhibition is a potential therapeutic approach for IPF. This article reviews the pathogenesis of IPF and the physiological function of PDE subtype 4 inhibitors in the treatment of IPF.

A brief review on Pleiotropic effects of Pirfenidone - novel and ongoing outcomes

Presently, there is a huge hype and excitement in the field of synthetic biologics and engineering regarding growing cases of their implication in various fields including health care systems. Furthermore, despite its large body of suggestive and fascinating accomplishments, the synthetic area is always been subject of much more prejudice and debate. However, over a couple of years, the generation of researchers had tested one of such disease modifying compound Pirfenidone (Esbriet®), to unleash their potential in the different disciplines of interventional pharmacology and therapy. In this pipeline, depending on its success of multiple missions, in context to advancing the therapy for different diseases, it became the first prescribed medicine to treat the people with one characteristic lung disorder called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). This review discusses the different therapeutic strategies beyond its well-known anti-fibrotic activity in several well-characterized animals, cell-based and human models and also regarding facts of Pirfenidone (PFD) as anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrinogenic, anti-oxidants including in the treatment of diabetic neuropathy, liver cirrhosis etc. This review also contains current investigations, focusing mainly on the novel findings and their outcomes in improving the quality of life of patients with different conditions and also suggests their implication on the basis of fundamental existential evidences to break the major impediment in transforming this disease-modifying drug into a personalized medicine.

On Life Quality Evaluation of IPF Patients / 中华中医药杂志

Objective: To Study the effects and feasibility of life quality list for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis(IPF) patients.Methods: Applying the self-made life quality evaluating list,life qualities of 36 cases of IPF patients were analyzed and compared before and after the intervention of traditional Chinese medicine.Results: The evaluating list of life quality is available for IPF patients.Conclusion: The evaluation of life quality is an available method for the observations of clinical therapeutic effect and health status on IPF patients and it is worth further investigation.

A Case of Nonspecific Interstitial Pneumonia with Clinical Course of Rapid Aggravation / 결핵

Nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP) was first described as a new category of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia in 1994. This is a disease with a more insidious onset and has a chronic course. The histological findings are unusual for other idiopathic interstitial pneumonia cases (usual interstitial pneumonia, diffuse interstitial pneumonia, and acute interstitial pneumonia). In contrast to NSIP, acute interstitial pneumonia (AIP) has an acute onset and a fulminant course with the rapid development of respiratory failure. A pathological examination demonstrated characteristic diffuse interstitial fibrosis, hyaline membranes, thrombi, and architectural derangement. Here we report a 48-year-old woman who was diagnosed pathologically NSIP, but with a rapid progressive course similar to AIP.

The early diagnostic value of cardiopulmonary exercise test in IPF / 中国实用内科杂志

Objective To detect early diagnosis significance of cardiopulmonary exercise test in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis(IPF).Methods 32 cases of IPF were individed into 2 groups,early-stage group (19cases) and non-early-stage group (13cases).All IPF patients and 22 healthy persons as control were performed cardiopulmonary exercise test.Results All indexes of cardiopulmonary exercise test were significantly different between the early-stage group and the control group,the non-early-stage group and the control group,the non-early-stage group and the early-stage group.Conclusion Cardiopulmonary exercise test markedly raises value early diagnosis in IPF.