PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Alessandro Pini
AU  - Giulia Boccalini
AU  - Laura Lucarini
AU  - Stefano Catarinicchia
AU  - Daniele Guasti
AU  - Emanuela Masini
AU  - Daniele Bani
AU  - Silvia Nistri
TI  - PROTECTION FROM CIGARETTE SMOKE-INDUCED LUNG DYSFUNCTION AND DAMAGE BY H2 RELAXIN (SERELAXIN)
AID  - 10.1124/jpet.116.232215
DP  - 2016 Jan 01
TA  - Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
PG  - jpet.116.232215
4099  - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/early/2016/04/05/jpet.116.232215.short
4100  - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/early/2016/04/05/jpet.116.232215.full
AB  - Cigarette smoke (CS) is the major etiologic factor of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), characterized by airway remodeling, lung inflammation and fibrosis, emphysema and respiratory failure. The current therapies can improve COPD management but cannot arrest its progression and reduce mortality. Hence, there is a major interest in identifying molecules susceptible of development into new drugs to prevent or reduce CS-induced lung injury. Serelaxin (RLX), or recombinant human relaxin-2, is a promising candidate because of its anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic properties highlighted in lung disease models. Here we used a guinea pig model of CS-induced lung inflammation and remodeling reproducing some of the hallmarks of COPD. Animals exposed chronically to CS (8 weeks) were treated with vehicle or RLX, delivered by osmotic pumps (1 or 10 μg/day) or aerosol (10 μg/ml/day) during CS treatment. Controls were non-smoking animals. RLX maintained airway compliance to a control-like pattern, likely because of its capability to counteract lung inflammation and bronchial remodeling. In fact, treatment of CS-exposed animals with RLX reduced the inflammatory recruitment of leukocytes, accompanied by a significant reduction of the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNFα, IL-1β). Moreover, RLX was able to counteract the adverse bronchial remodeling and emphysema induced by CS exposure by reducing goblet cell hyperplasia, smooth muscle thickening and fibrosis. Of note, RLX delivered by aerosol has shown a comparable efficacy to systemic administration in reducing CS-induced lung dysfunction and damage. In conclusion, RLX emerges as a new molecule to counteract CS-induced inflammatory lung diseases.