Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an irreversible disease which considered the most fatal pulmonary fibrosis. Pulmonary toxicity including IPF is the most severe adverse effect of bleomycin, the chemotherapeutic agent. Based on the fact that, exogenous surfactants could induce alveolar stabilization in many lung diseases, the aim of this study was to explore the effects of low cost biosurfactants, surfactin (SUR) and sophorolipids (SLs), against bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice due to their antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. Surfactin and sophorolipids were produced by microbial conversion of frying oil and potato peel wastes using Bacillus halotolerans and Candida parapsilosis respectively. These biosurfactants were identified by FTIR, 1H NMR, and LC-MS/MS spectra. C57BL/6 mice were administered the produced biosurfactants daily at oral dose of 200 mg kg-1 one day after the first bleomycin dose (35 U/kg). We evaluated four study groups: Control, Bleomycin, Bleomycin+SUR, Bleomycin+SLs. After 30 days, lungs from each mouse were sampled for oxidative stress, ELISA, Western blot, histopathological, immunohistochemical analyses. Our results showed that the produced SUR and SLs reduced pulmonary oxidative stress and inflammatory response in the lungs of bleomycin induced mice as they suppressed SOD, CAT, and GST activities also reduced NF-κβ, TNF-α, and CD68 levels. Furthermore, biosurfactants suppressed the expression of TGF-β1, Smad-3, and p-JNK fibrotic signaling pathway in pulmonary tissues. Histologically, SUR and SLs protected against lung ECM deposition caused by bleomycin administration. Biosurfactants produced from microbial sources can inhibit the induced inflammatory and fibrotic responses in bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis.
Keywords: Biosurfactants; Bleomycin; Pulmonary fibrosis; Smad-3; TGF-β1; miRNA-326.
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