Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal disease characterized by exuberant deposition of extracellular matrix components, deterioration of lung architecture and impairment of lung functions. Its etiopathogenesis remains incompletely understood, as reflected in the lack of an appropriate therapy. Modeling the human disease in mice via the administration of bleomycin (BLM), despite the inherent limitations, has provided valuable insights into the underlying pathogenetic mechanisms, and has been instrumental for the development and validation of new pharmacologic interventions. Here we have directly compared the, most widely used, intratracheal (IT) route of administration with oropharyngeal aspiration (OA). Our results suggest that the OA route of BLM-administration can be used as a safe and effective alternative, minimizing peri-operative and experimental mortality, while preserving a solid fibrotic profile, as assessed with a plethora of standardized readout assays.
Keywords: animal model; bleomycin (BLM); intratracheal (IT); oropharyngeal (OA); pulmonary fibrosis.