Taurine and
niacin have been previously found to block the accumulation of
collagen in lung in the multidose
bleomycin hamster model of
pulmonary fibrosis. Previous studies have found an increase in the pulmonary
collagen cross-links dihydroxylysinonoroleucine (
DHLNL) and hydroxypyridinium (OHP) in the single dose
bleomycin rat model. In this study, we asked if
taurine and
niacin would block the increase in
DHLNL and OHP in the multidose
bleomycin hamster model of lung
fibrosis. Hamsters were intratracheally instilled with three consecutive doses of saline or
bleomycin sulfate 1 week apart (2.5, 2.0, 1.5 units/5 mL/kg). Animals were fed diet containing either 2.5%
niacin and 2.5%
taurine or control diet throughout the experiment. The four groups were saline-instilled with control diet (SCD),
bleomycin instilled with control diet (BCD),
bleomycin-instilled with
taurine-
niacin in diet (BTN), and saline-instilled with
taurine-
niacin in diet (STN). Animals were sacrificed at 1, 4, and 8 weeks after the last
bleomycin instillation.
Hydroxyproline per lung in the BCD group was significantly elevated by 38, 56, and 60% over the SCD group at 1, 4, and 8 weeks, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences among the four groups in
DHLNL (mmole) per mole
collagen at the 1 or 8 week time point. At four weeks,
DHLNL was significantly elevated by 46.4% in the BCD group over the SCD group. The OHP (mmole) per mole of
collagen at 1 and 4 weeks in the BCD group was not statistically different from the SCD group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)