Fig. 1

Representative photographs for H&E (upper panel) and Masson’s trichrome (lower panel) staining of rat lung tissues on the 28th day. H&E staining of lung tissue sections are shown in the upper panel: a control animals showing normal lung tissue morphology; b bleomycin treated animals showing distorted lung morphologies with inflammatory cell infiltration, thickened interalveolar septa, alveolar edema, alveolar exudate, collapsed alveolar spaces with inflammatory exudates; c dexamethasone treated rats with significant less inflammatory cell infiltration; d–f animals treated with low-dose (LD), medium-dose (MD) and high-dose (HD) SML showing less inflammation compared to bleomycin alone treated animals. Masson’s trichrome staining for collagen assessment in lung tissues are shown in the lower panel: a lung tissue sections of control animals showing scarcely deposited collagen in the lung parenchyma; b BLM-induced animals showing dense collagen accumulations; c DEX-treated animals showing less collagen deposition as compared to BLM-induced group; d–f low-dose (LD), medium-dose (MD) and high-dose (HD) SML-treated animals showing improved collagen deposition compared to BLM-induced group