Expression data from mouse lung treated with saline or bleomycin. Mus musculus

Lung fibrosis represents the final common pathway of a variety of lung injuries, and it is characterized, independently of etiology, by the expansion of the fibroblast/myofibroblast population and by the abnormal accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) replacing normal functional parenchyma. In general, there is no effective therapy, and currently the only helpful available treatment for advanced lung fibrosis is transplantation. In this study we aimed to document the time-related reversibility of bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis, and to determine the gene expression patterns associated with the initial progression and the subsequent regression of the fibrotic response by microarray in this bleomycin mouse model of lung fibrosis. Overall design: Mice (C57BL/6 ) aging 8 to 10 weeks were instilled intratracheally with 0.10 U/10 g of bleomycin (Blenoxane, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.) in 50 μl sterile saline. Control animals received an equal volume of sterile saline (9, 10). Mice were housed in specific pathogen-free conditions and provided with food and water ad libitum. All studies and procedures were approved by the Science and Ethic Committee at the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases and were performed according to the protocols and guidelines of the institutional animal care and use committee. Mice were sacrificed at 7 days and 1, 2, 3, and 4 months after bleomycin or saline treatment. For every variable, six control and six experimental mice were used.