Inhibitory Effect of Verapamil on the Growth of Human Airway Granulation Fibroblasts

OBJECTIVES

To explore the inhibitory effect of verapamil, a calcium channel blocker, on the growth of human airway granulation fibroblasts to provide an experimental basis for the clinical use of calcium channel blockers in preventing and treating benign airway stenosis.

METHODS

Primary human airway normal fibroblasts and human airway granulation fibroblasts were cultured by tissue block attachment culture method, and the experimental studies were carried out using 3-8 generation cells. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) was used to test the proliferation of human normal airway fibroblasts and human airway granulation fibroblasts and the semi-inhibitory concentration of verapamil on normal airway fibroblasts and airway granulation fibroblasts. A scratch test detected the migration effect of verapamil on human airway granulation fibroblasts. The mRNA relative expression levels of related factors were detected by PCR to compare the differences between normal airway fibroblasts and airway granulation fibroblasts. Western blot was used to detect the relative amount of related proteins and compare the differences between normal airway fibroblasts and granulation airway fibroblasts. After 48 hours of treatment with half of the inhibitory concentration of Vera Pammy for granulation airway fibroblasts, the relative expression levels of related factors on mRNA and protein were observed.

RESULTS

Human normal airway fibroblasts and human airway granulation fibroblasts with a purity of more than 95% could be obtained from primary culture by tissue block adherence method. CCK8 results showed that the proliferation rate of human airway granulation fibroblasts was faster than that of the normal human airway fibroblasts. The semi-inhibitory concentration of verapamil on human normal airway fibroblasts was 92.81 ug/ml, while the semi-inhibitory concentration on human airway granulation fibroblasts was 69.57 ug/ml. The scratch test indicated that the cell migration rate of human airway granulation fibroblasts treated with verapamil decreased significantly (P < 0.05). PCR results showed that the mRNA relative expression levels of TGFβ1, COL1A1, Smad2/3, VEGFA, IL6, and IL8 in human airway granulation fibroblasts were significantly higher than those in normal human airway fibroblasts (P < 0.05). The mRNA relative expressions of TGFβ1, smad2/3, and COL1A1 in human airway granulation fibroblasts treated with semi-inhibited verapamil for 48h were down-regulated (P < 0.05), while the mRNA relative expressions of VEGFA, IL6 and IL8 had no significant changes (P > 0.05). WB test showed that the relative protein expressions of TGFβ1, Smad2, and VEGFC in human airway granulation fibroblasts were upregulated (P < 0.05) but downregulated after verapamil treatment compared with before treatment (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Calcium channel blockers can inhibit the proliferation of human airway granulation fibroblasts through TGFβ1/ Smad pathway, which may be a method to prevent and treat benign airway stenosis.

Transforming Growth Factor Beta (TGFβ1) and Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) as Biomarkers of Leishmania (V) braziliensis Infection and Early Therapeutic Response in Cutaneous Leishmaniasis: Studies in Hamsters

Introduction: In cutaneous leishmaniasis, the host immune response is responsible for the development of skin injuries but also for resolution of the disease especially after antileishmanial therapy. The immune factors that participate in the regulation of inflammation, remodeling of the extracellular matrix, cell proliferation and differentiation may constitute biomarkers of diseases or response to treatment. In this work, we analyzed the production of the growth factors EGF, TGFβ1, PDGF, and FGF during the infection by Leishmania parasites, the development of the injuries and the early response to treatment. Methodology: Golden hamsters were infected with L. (V) braziliensis. The growth factors were detected in skin scrapings and biopsies every 2 weeks after infected and then at day 7 of treatment with different drug candidates by RT-qPCR. The parasitic load was also quantified by RT-qPCR in skin biopsies sampled at the end of the study. Results: The infection by L. (V) braziliensis induced the expression of all the growth factors at day 15 of infection. One month after infection, EGF and TGFβ1 were expressed in all hamsters with inverse ratio. While the EGF and FGF levels decreased between day 15 and 30 of infection, the TGFβ1 increased and the PGDF levels did not change. The relative expression of EGF and TGFβ1 increased notably after treatment. However, the increase of EGF was associated with clinical cure while the increase of TGFβ1 was associated with failure to treatment. The amount of parasites in the cutaneous lesion at the end of the study decreased according to the clinical outcome, being lower in the group of cured hamsters and higher in the group of hamsters that had a failure to the treatment. Conclusions: A differential profile of growth factor expression occurred during the infection and response to treatment. Higher induction of TGFβ1 was associated with active disease while the higher levels of EGF are associated with adequate response to treatment. The inversely EGF/TGFβ1 ratio may be an effective biomarker to identify establishment of Leishmania infection and early therapeutic response, respectively. However, further studies are needed to validate the utility of the proposed biomarkers in field conditions.