Fig. 1

Protodioscin ameliorated pathological structural changes in lung tissues and decreased the levels of lung fibrosis markers in mouse pulmonary fibrosis. Tracheal injection of bleomycin was used to construct a mouse lung fibrosis model, and intraperitoneal injections of low (1 mg/kg), medium (5 mg/kg), and high (20 mg/kg) doses of protodioscin were administered to observe its effects on lung fibrosis (A). Alterations in lung tissue structures and the extracellular matrix were observed after HE and Masson staining (magnification × 100) (B, C). The extent of lung fibrosis in the different groups was determined by the Ashcroft score (G). Lung tissue contents of hydroxyproline were assessed by biochemical methods (F). The positive expression areas of col-I and α-SMA were analyzed by immunohistochemical methods tissues (magnification × 100) (D, E). The mRNA expression levels of α-SMA, Col1a1, FN1 and CTGF expression in lung tissues were quantified by qRT-PCR (H–K). WB was undertaken to analyze the levels of col-I and α-SMA proteins in lung tissue (L). BLM + H indicates high-dose treatment group; BLM + M indicates medium-dose treatment group; BLM + L indicates low-dose treatment group; BLM indicates lung fibrosis model group; Control indicates control group. Expression of data was undertaken in form of mean ± standard deviation. The sample size, particularly per group, was eight, * P < 0.05; *It is suggestive of statistical significance at the P threshold below 0.05; **Denotes heightened significance at the P threshold below 0.01; ***Reflects substantial significance at the P threshold below 0.001; ****Demonstrates remarkable significance at the P threshold below 0.0001