Fatemeh  Vafashoar,Kazem  Mousavizadeh,Hadi  Poormoghim,Pendar  Safari,Amir  Haghighi,Nazanin Mojtabavi,
Progesterone Decreased Cell Infiltration in Airways of Systemic Sclerosis Mice Model
International Journal of Regenerative Medicine
2020
2613-5914
http://dx.doi.org/10.31487/j.RGM.2020.01.06
https://www.sciencerepository.org/progesterone-decreased-cell-infiltration-in-airways-of-systemic-sclerosis_RGM-2020-1-106 
Abstract: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is the fibrotic autoimmune disease with a higher incidence in women. Lung fibrosis
is the most common cause of death in SSc patients. Sex steroids have crucial role in the induction of
autoimmune diseases. Progesterone impacts autoimmunity by direct action on parenchymal cells or through
its immunomodulatory effect. This study aimed to investigate the effect of progesterone on the cellularity
of airways in an animal model of systemic sclerosis. 6 groups of mice were considered in this study.
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) was induced in female BALB/c mice by subcutaneous injection of bleomycin for
28 days. For evaluating the effect of Progesterone in SSc model, Progesterone was administered
subcutaneously parallel with bleomycin for 28 days or one week after the first administration of bleomycin
for 21 days. Further, three control groups were included in this study. On day 29, under lethal anesthesia
bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was collected and evaluated for cellularity. Our results indicate the increment
of cells in BAL of SSc (P<0.0001) mice. Administration of Progesterone for 28 days significantly reduced
the infiltrating cells in BALs (P<0.01) of SSc mice. The differential count of BALs indicates that
Progesterone reduced the number of lymphocytes (P˂0.05) in SSc mice but did not affect the number of
macrophages. Therefore, we conclude that progesterone reduced the inflammatory cells in airways by
decreasing the number of lymphocytes.Keywords:  Systemic sclerosis, progesterone, bronchoalveolar lavage, fibrosis, bleomycin