{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T03:54:21Z","timestamp":1783569261996,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2016,6,3]],"date-time":"2016-06-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1464912000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Rhodiola rosea L. (RRL) possesses a wide range of pharmacological properties, including lung-protective activity, and has been utilized in folk medicine for several 100 years. However, the lung-protective mechanism remains unclear. This study investigated the possible lung-protective activity mechanism of RRL in a pulmonary fibrosis (PF) rat model. Lung fibrotic injury was induced in Sprague\u2013Dawley rats by single intratracheal instillation of saline containing bleomycin (BLM; 5 mg\/kg). The rats were administered 125, 250, or 500 mg\/kg of a 95% ethanol extract of RRL for 28 days. The animals were killed to detect changes in body weight, serum levels of glutathione (GSH) and total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), as well as lung tissue hydroxyproline (HYP) content. Tumor necrosis factor-\u03b1 (TNF-\u03b1), transforming growth factor-\u03b21 (TGF-\u03b21), and interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels were measured in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Hematoxylin and eosin, Masson\u2019s trichrome, and immunohistochemical staining were performed to observe the histopathological changes in lung tissues. Additionally, target-related proteins were measured by Western blotting. RRL alleviated the loss of body weight induced by instilling BLM in PF rats, particularly at the 500 mg\/kg per day dose. RRL reduced HYP (p &lt; 0.01) and increased GSH and T-SOD contents. BALF levels of TNF-\u03b1, TGF-\u03b21, and IL-6 decreased significantly in the RRL-treated groups. Expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and \u03b1-smooth muscle actin decreased significantly in a dose-dependent manner in response to RRL. Moreover, the levels of TGF-\u03b21 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 in lung tissues also decreased in the RRL-treated groups. RRL alleviated BLM-induced PF in rats. Our results reveal that the protective effects of RRL against fibrotic lung injury in rats are correlated with its anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and anti-fibrotic properties. MMP-9 may play important roles in BLM-induced PF.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms17060879","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2016,6,3]],"date-time":"2016-06-03T10:37:37Z","timestamp":1464950257000},"page":"879","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":37,"title":["Preventive Effects of Rhodiola rosea L. on Bleomycin-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis in Rats"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Ke","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiao-Ping","family":"Si","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shihezi Institute for Drug Control, Shihezi 832002, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jian","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jian","family":"Han","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xu","family":"Liang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Pharmacy, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832002, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiao-Bo","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yi-Ting","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Pharmacy, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832002, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Guo-Yu","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Pharmacy, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832002, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hang-Yu","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Pharmacy, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832002, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jin-Hui","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Traditional Chinese Materia Medica, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China"},{"name":"College of Pharmacy, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832002, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2016,6,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Calabrese, F., Kipar, A., Lunardi, F., Balestro, E., Perissinotto, E., Rossi, E., Nannini, N., Marulli, G., Stewart, J.P., and Rea, F. 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