Figure 6.

Effects of treatment with peptide Ac2-26 on lung fibrosis and hydroxyproline content. Lung were analyzed at 0 and 21 days post-bleomycin i.t. administration. Also a group of mice were daily treated i.p. with the peptide Ac2-26 (1 mg/kg) or between the days 14 to 21 post-bleomycin as described in Methods section. (A) Morphological analysis of sham group indicated the reduced content of collagen in the lung parenchyma (a), near the vessels (v) and bronchiole (b). (B) At day 21 after bleomycin administration, the alveolar septa thickening indicated the significantly increasement of collagen deposit (arrows). (C) The daily treatment with peptide Ac2-26 prevents bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis (curve arrows). Masson trichrome stain. Bar, 100 μm. (D) Pulmonary fibrosis was biochemically assessed by measurement of lung hydroxyproline content. Results are expressed as means ± SEM of μg of hydroxyproline per mg of lung tissue. **P < 0.01 versus 0 time point values; #P < 0.05 versus day 21 post-bleomycin time point values.