Arthritis and rheumatism
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Oct 2011
The specific free radical scavenger edaravone suppresses fibrosis in the bleomycin-induced and tight skin mouse models of systemic sclerosis.
Patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) exhibit enhanced production of free radicals due to ischemia and reperfusion injury following Raynaud's phenomenon, an initial clinical manifestation. Oxidative stress induces cytokine production, inflammatory cell recruitment, and tissue injury in several inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of edaravone, a free radical scavenger, on the development of fibrosis and autoimmunity in two different mouse models of SSc. ⋯ This study is the first to show that edaravone has a significant inhibitory effect on fibrosis both in the bleomycin-induced SSc model and in TSK/+ mice. These results indicate that edaravone should be further evaluated for potential use as an antifibrotic agent in SSc.