Evaluation of the effects of dehydrodieugenol on lung remodelling in an experimental model of chronic airway inflammation

• Grant number: 20/09410-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2020
• End date: October 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Carla Máximo Prado
• Grantee: Silvana Silva Santos
• Host Institution: Instituto de Saúde e Sociedade (ISS). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Baixada Santista. Santos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Asthma is a chronic airway disease characterized by chronic inflammation, bronchial hyperresponsiveness and airway remodeling. It is known that there are also inflammatory and remodeling changes in the most distal regions including the pulmonary parenchyma and in the peribronchial vessels. Although the recommended treatment is the use of inhaled corticosteroids associated with long-acting bronchodilators, these treatments are not always effective and often do not reverse the process of pulmonary remodeling, which can lead to reduced lung function over the years. In this sense, our group recently demonstrated that dehydrodieugenol, a phenolic compound dimer of eugenol, has an important effect in reducing airway inflammation in an experimental model of asthma. However, little is known about the effect of this phytochemical on structural changes that occur in the distal lung. Objective: To assess whether eugenol and dehydrodieugenol reduce pulmonary vessel remodeling and lung parenchyma in an experimental model of chronic airway inflammation. Materials and methods: We will use lungs from animals that have undergone the asthma induction model (Ovoalbumin + aluminum hydroxide), treated with eugenol, dehydrodieugenol or vehicle in a 29-day protocol. In the present study, histological slides, inflammatory cells in vessels and parenchyma, structural changes in pulmonary vessels (thickening of the vascular wall and angiogenesis), deposition of collagen fibers and expression of IL-13 cytokine in the lung parenchyma and pulmonary vessels will be evaluated. Expected results: Considering previous results that dehydrodieugenol has an anti-inflammatory effect in an experimental asthma model, treatment with dehydrodieugenol is expected to reduce the process of pulmonary inflammation and remodeling by reducing the expression of IL-13, the cytokine involved in this process.