Sahar S. Abd El-Rahman has completed her PhD at the age of 31 years from Cairo University and Postdoctoral Studies from School of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt. She is the Scientific Coordinator of Pathology Dept. and Director of publication center, faculty of Vet. Med. Cairo University, an active member in a number of scientific commetees. She has published more than 40 papers, 25of which were publihed in and international reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of repute. She has got the AWARD OF INTERNATIONAL PUPLICATION from Cairo University (CUIPA).
Abstract
Activation of cannabinoid receptor type 2 has been shown to have anti-fibrosis action in some organs such as in liver, skin and heart. However, whether activating cannabinoid receptor type 2 could inhibit pulmonary fibrosis still obscure. The key markers in the pathogenesis of lung fibrosis are, pulmonary fibroblasts and TGF-β1. The aim of the current work was to investigate the stimulating role of cannabinoid receptor 2 agonist AM1241 in in vivo model of pulmonary fibrosis. Lung fibrosis was induced in rat model using bleomycin (0.05 IU) instilled intratracheally once in rats, then rats were treated either with vehicle 0.1 ml of 1:2 DEMSO: PBS or AM1241 (3mg/kg DMSO then diluted in PBS by ratio 1:2) once daily for 14 days. The use of AM1241 markedly decreased the pulmonary fibrosis by reducing the level of the profibrotic cytokines TGF-β1 as well as reducing the levels of collagen I and α-SMA. The oxidative stress marker thiobarbituric acid reactive substance showed marked decrease. The histopathological examination of lung revealed that the use of AM1241 could suppress collage deposition and inflammatory reaction as well as decreased fibrosis scoring. Our results indicated that activating cannabinoid receptor type 2 could be a novel significant strategy for curing pulmonary fibrosis.