RESUMO
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a dreadful, chronic, and irreversibly progressive disease leading to death with few effective treatments. Our previous study suggested that repetitive hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment alleviates bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice. Here, we investigated the protective mechanism of HBO treatment against pulmonary fibrosis using an integrated approach. Analyzing publicly available expression data from the mouse model of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis as well as IPF patients, several potential mechanisms of relevance to IPF pathology were identified, including increased epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and glycolysis. High EMT or glycolysis scores in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) were strong independent predictors of mortality in multivariate analysis. These processes were potentially driven by hypoxia and blocked by HBO treatment. Together, these data support HBO treatment as a viable strategy against pulmonary fibrosis.
RESUMO
The prevalence of pulmonary fibrosis is increasing with an aging population and its burden is likely to increase following COVID-19, with large financial and medical implications. As approved therapies in pulmonary fibrosis only slow disease progression, there is a significant unmet medical need. Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) is the inhaling of pure oxygen, under the pressure of greater than one atmosphere absolute, and it has been reported to improve pulmonary function in patients with pulmonary fibrosis. Our recent study suggested that repetitive HBO exposure may affect biological processes in mice lungs such as response to wounding and extracellular matrix. To extend these findings, a bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis mouse model was used to evaluate the effect of repetitive HBO exposure on pulmonary fibrosis. Building on our previous findings, we provide evidence that HBO exposure attenuates bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice. In vitro, HBO exposure could reverse, at least partially, transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß-induced fibroblast activation, and this effect may be mediated by downregulating TGF-ß-induced expression of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1α. These findings support HBO as a potentially life-changing therapy for patients with pulmonary fibrosis, although further research is needed to fully evaluate this.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the distribution, composition and situation of natural infection pathogen of tick species in the main ports of Inner Mongolia. METHODS: All ticks were collected manually with white cloth, from the grassland and searching for the hosts followed by detection of pathogens, with PCR. RESULTS: 1313 ticks identified, belonged to 1 family, 4 geniuses and 7 species in the three surveyed areas, with Dermacentor nuttallia distributed in the Ceke, Mandula and Manzhouli bordering ports. 69.08% of the total species were discovered at Port Ceke, with Rhipicephalus pumilio as the predominant one, which accounted for 74.86%. 5 kinds of tick-borne disease pathogens were detected from ticks in these three bordering ports while only Coxiella burnetii was found at the Port Ceke. In these three ports, the average infection rates of Lyme disease borrelia, Human babesia microti, Spotted fever group Rickettsia, Coxiella burnetii, Ehrlichiosis were 15.08%, 3.35%, 1.98%, 1.07%, 0.99% respectively. The positive rate of tick infected with Borrelia burgdorferi were 13.56%,22.88%,5.00% in the 3 bordering ports, respectively with significant differences. The positive rates of Babesia microti and Spotted fever group Rickettsia infections were also significantly different among these areas. CONCLUSION: The natural infection rates of the above mentioned five kinds of tick-borne pathogens were different in the Ports Ceke, Mandula and Manzhouli.