Abdullah, S. M.

Synergistic effects of forskolin and rutin in the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis in murine model - Vol.85(4), Jul-Aug - Mumbai Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Science 2023 - 919-935p.

Pulmonary fibrosis treatment with currently available drugs mostly seems inadequate owing to its progressive
and irreversible nature. Persistent activation of underlying mechanisms primarily, oxidative-stress and
inflammation in lung leads to pulmonary fibrosis progression and subsequently produces sub-therapeutic
control even after prolonged drug therapy. Additionally, due to large dose requirements in the treatment
of pulmonary fibrosis unavoidable adverse effects are also an important concern. Thus, alternative drug
therapy for pulmonary fibrosis, targeting to the aforementioned chief mechanisms is urgently required. In
this view, some phytoconstituents were initially screened for antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities
through in vitro testing. Later, an in vivo study was planned to evaluate and compare the efficacy of two
selected compounds namely forskolin (20 mg/kg) and rutin (100 mg/kg), individually and in combination
against standard drug pirfenidone (50 mg/kg) using bleomycin-triggered pulmonary fibrosis murine model.
Assessment parameters including changes in physical and physiological parameters along with alterations
in lung injury markers, oxidative-stress, inflammatory status and fibrotic condition were evaluated during
the study. Outcomes of the study exhibited, forskolin and rutin co-administration adequately reversed the
physical and physiological changes during pulmonary fibrosis. Besides, it synergistically inhibited biochemical
alterations in lung with no significant difference as compared to pirfenidone treatment. Further, forskolin
and rutin co-administration showed effectively decline in Szapiel’s and Ashcroft scores and maximally
diminish mast cell accumulation than that manifested by pirfenidone in lungs. Overall, efficacy of forskolin
and rutin combination against pulmonary fibrosis showed promising potential and hence would contribute
in the development of a novel effective treatment regimen in future.


PHARMACEUTICS