SY0916 is a new platelet-activating factor receptor antagonist developed by our institute. In this study, the inhibitory effect of SY0916 on pulmonary fibrosis was investigated in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) induced by transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) in vitro and a pulmonary fibrosis animal model induced by bleomycin (BLM). The results showed that SY0916 could inhibit the EMT of A549 cells induced with TGF-β1. In vivo, SY0916 administration significantly ameliorated the BLM-mediated histological changes, reduced main biochemical parameters related to pulmonary fibrosis such as hydroxyproline and glutathione, and also notably attenuated the expression of key pro-fibrotic mediator, TGF-β1. These findings demonstrated that SY0916 could possibly be developed as a promising candidate for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.
Keywords: epithelial–mesenchymal transition; platelet-activating factor receptor antagonist; pulmonary fibrosis.