Inhaled exogenous thymosin beta 4 suppresses bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice via TGF-β1 signalling pathway.

This article focuses on evaluating the therapeutic potential of nebulized recombinant human thymosin beta 4 (rhTβ4) for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a chronic and progressive fibrotic lung disease with limited treatment options. Using a bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis mouse model, the study demonstrates that aerosolized rhTβ4 administered at early, mid, and late stages of fibrosis significantly reduces collagen deposition, improves lung function, and decreases fibrotic markers and fibroblast proliferation in vivo. In vitro experiments reveal that rhTβ4 inhibits fibroblast proliferation, migration, and activation by modulating the transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1) signaling pathway and suppresses epithelial-mesenchymal transition-like changes in lung epithelial cells. These findings suggest that inhaled rhTβ4 may represent a promising treatment strategy for IPF by targeting key cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in fibrosis.