OBJECTIVETo compare the effects of treatment of pulmonary fibrosis (PF) by the Chinese herbal medicines, Radix Salviae miltiorrhizae (C1), Radix Astragalus membranaceus (C2) and Caulis Tripterygium wilfordii (C3); western drugs, hydrocortisone (W1) and azathioprine (W2), and combined W2 with C3.

METHODSEighty SD rats were divided into 8 groups. Except the 10 rats in the normal control group, the other 70 rats were made into animal model of PF by bleomycin administration, and treated with various medicines, except the 10 rats in the model control group. The treatment started from the 15th day of modeling, the model animals were perfused with C1, C2, C3, W1, W2 and W2 + C3 respectively for 14 days. Rats were sacrificed by the end of experiment, their lung tissue was taken for pathological section to conduct the pathological examination under light microscope and computerized image quantitative analysis to evaluate the effects of the treatments objectively.

RESULTSThe therapeutic effect of C1 was the best, that of W1 the second and C2 the third. W2 showed some effect, but PF worsened after the combined therapy of W2 and C3 was applied.

CONCLUSIONRadix Salviae miltiorrhizae shows definite therapeutic effect in treating PF.

Animals ; Astragalus membranaceus ; Azathioprine ; pharmacology ; Bleomycin ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Hydrocortisone ; pharmacology ; Phytotherapy ; Pulmonary Fibrosis ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Salvia miltiorrhiza ; Tripterygium

In order to evaluate whether immunosuppressive agents such as mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and azathioprine would differently influence the outcome of the renal transplants, we prospectively analyzed the incidence of acute rejection episodes, cytomegalovirus infection within the first 6 months following renal transplantation and 5 yr graft survival rate after minimizing influences of donor factors by grafting the same cadaveric donor kidney. There was no significant difference in sex, HLA mismatch, cold ischemic time, and patients' weight between the two groups. Contrary to the previous studies which demonstrated that MMF could lower the incidence of acute rejection episodes and improved graft survival rate, the two groups showed no significant difference in the incidence of acute rejection episodes and 5-yr graft survival rate as well. This discrepancy in these results might explain that donor factors could be important to cadaveric renal transplantation. Thus, we suggest that the influences of donor factors should be considered in further clinical studies of cadaveric renal transplantation.
ABO Blood-Group System ; Adult ; Azathioprine/*pharmacology ; Body Weight ; Cadaver ; Cytomegalovirus/metabolism ; Cytomegalovirus Infections/metabolism ; Female ; Graft Rejection ; Graft Survival ; Histocompatibility Testing ; Humans ; Immunophenotyping ; Immunosuppressive Agents/pharmacology ; Ischemia ; Kidney Diseases/mortality/therapy ; Kidney Transplantation/*methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mycophenolic Acid/*analogs & derivatives/*pharmacology ; Prospective Studies ; Time Factors ; Tissue Donors ; Treatment Outcome