Losartan enhances the suppressive effect of pirfenidone on the bleomycin-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition and oxidative stress in A549 cell line

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Physiology Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

2 Department of Toxicology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

3 Pharmaceutics Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

4 Department of Dental Biomaterials, School of Dentistry, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

5 Department of Toxicology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

Abstract

Objective(s): Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal lung disease. Despite the promising anti-fibrotic effect, the toleration of pirfenidone (PFD) by the patients in full dose is low. Combination therapy is a method for enhancing the therapeutic efficiency of PFD and decreasing its dose. Therefore, the present study evaluated the effect of a combination of losartan (LOS) and PFD on oxidative stress parameters and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process induced by bleomycin (BLM) in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells. 
Materials and Methods: The non-toxic concentrations of BLM, LOS, and PFD were assessed by the MTT assay. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and anti-oxidant enzyme activity including catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were assessed after co-treatment. Migration and western blot assays were used to evaluate EMT in BLM-exposed A549 after single or combined treatments. 
Results: The combination treatment exhibited a remarkable decrease in cellular migration compared with both single and BLM-exposed groups. Furthermore, the combination treatment significantly improved cellular anti-oxidant markers compared with the BLM-treated group. Moreover, combined therapy markedly increased epithelial markers while decreasing mesenchymal markers. 
Conclusion: This in vitro study revealed that the combination of PFD with LOS might be more protective in pulmonary fibrosis (PF) than single therapy because of its greater efficacy in regulating the EMT process and oxidative stress. The current results might offer a promising therapeutic strategy for the future clinical therapy of lung fibrosis. 

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences
Volume 26, Issue 8
August 2023
Pages 972-978

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