Українська English

ISSN 2522-9028 (Print)
ISSN 2522-9036 (Online)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/fz

Fiziologichnyi Zhurnal

(English title: Physiological Journal)

is a scientific journal issued by the

Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

Editor-in-chief: V.F. Sagach

The journal was founded in 1955 as
1955 – 1977 "Fiziolohichnyi zhurnal" (ISSN 0015 – 3311)
1978 – 1993 "Fiziologicheskii zhurnal" (ISSN 0201 – 8489)
1994 – 2016 "Fiziolohichnyi zhurnal" (ISSN 0201 – 8489)
2017 – "Fiziolohichnyi zhurnal" (ISSN 2522-9028)

Fiziol. Zh. 2026; 72(1): 3-15


EFFECT OF EXPERIMENTAL THERAPY ON PULMONARY CONTENT OF HYPOXIA-INDUCIBLE FACTOR-1Α AND VASCULAR GROWTH FACTOR IN ACUTE LUNG INFLAMMATION IN RATS

D.S. Ziablitsev1, V.O. Kostenko2, V.V. Likhodievsky1, V.V. Mykhaylovska1, A.I. Kurchenko1

  1. Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, Ukraine
  2. Poltava State Medical University, Poltava, Ukraine
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/fz72.01.003


Abstract

Acute lung inflammation is characterized by critical tissue hypoxia, a massive inflammatory cascade, and microvascular thrombosis, which leads to high mortality and pulmonary fibrosis, especially in severe viral infections, including COVID-19. Key regulators of the cellular response to hy- poxia are hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), excessive activation of which leads to pathological angiogenesis, increased vascular permeability, and the formation of pulmonary fibrosis. The effectiveness of experimental therapies aimed at blocking angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors, sup- pressing the inflammatory response with glucocorticoids, and preventing microthrombosis with the anticoagulant heparin was evaluated based on their effect on HIF-1α and VEGF content in lung tissue. Acute lung inflammation was modeled in male Wistar rats weighing 190-220 g (n = 45). From days 5 to 21, the rats were administered drugs by inhalation. After this, a histological examination of the lung tissue was per- formed, along with an immunoblotting analysis to determine the content of HIF-1α and VEGF. It was found that the use of the ACE2 blocker camostat mesylate, methylprednisolone, and enoxaparin sodium reduced the content of HIF-1α in the lungs compared to placebo. The dynamics of the monomeric form of VEGF corresponded to changes in HIF-1α but decreased less pronouncedly. Morphologically, the HIF-1α/VEGF inhibition corresponded to the fibrosis reduction. The drugs used demon- strated different effects: the maximum effect on HIF-1α was observed with camostat mesylate, on the VEGF monomer was enoxaparin sodium, and on fibrosis was methylprednisolone. The revealed correlation between the reduction in tissue HIF- 1α/VEGF content and the reduction in inflammatory damage and fibrosis substantiated the feasibility of further developing these therapeutic approaches to prevent pulmonary inflamma - tory complications.

Keywords: acute lung inflammation; pulmonary fibrosis; hypoxia-inducible factor-1α; vasculoendothelial growth factor; ACE2 blocker; methylprednisolone; enoxaparin sodium.

References

  1. Recovery Collaborative Group, Horby P, Lim WS, Emberson JR, Mafham M, Bell JL, Linsell L, Staplin N, Brightling C, Ustianowski A, Elmahi E, Prudon B, Green C, Felton T, Chadwick D, Rege K, Fegan C, Chappell LC, Faust SN, Jaki T, Jeffery K, Montgomery A, Rowan K, Juszczak E, Baillie JK, Haynes R, Landray MJ. Dexamethasone in hospitalized patients with Covid-19. N Engl J Med. 2021 Feb 25;384(8):693-704. doi: 10.1056/ NEJMoa2021436.
  2. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  3. Zhang L, Dutta S, Xiong S, Chan M, Chan KK, Fan TM, Bailey KL, Lindeblad M, Cooper LM, Rong L, Gugliuzza AF, Shukla D, Procko E, Rehman J, Malik AB. Engineered ACE2 decoy mitigates lung injury and death induced by SARS-CoV-2 variants. Nat Chem Biol. 2022 Mar;18(3):342-51. doi: 10.1038/s41589-021-00965-6.
  4. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  5. Spyropoulos AC, Goldin M, Giannis D, Diab W, Wang J, Khanijo S, Mignatti A, Gianos E, Cohen M, Sharifova G, Lund JM, Tafur A, Lewis PA, Cohoon KP, Rahman H, Sison CP, Lesser ML, Ochani K, Agrawal N, Hsia J, Anderson VE, Bonaca M, Halperin JL, Weitz JI. HEP-COVID Investigators. Efficacy and safety of therapeutic-dose heparin vs standard prophylactic or intermediate-dose heparins for thromboprophylaxis in high-risk hospitalized patients with COVID-19: The HEP-COVID Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Int Med. 2021 Dec 1;181(12):1612-20. doi: 10.1001/ jamainternmed.2021.6203.
  6. Zyablitsev SV, Penskyy PYu, Litvinets ML, Kovalova AV, Salamaha AA. Dynamics of morphological mani festations of the experimental acute aspiration bronchopneumonia development. Morphologia. 2021;15(1):48-59. [Ukrainian]. doi:10.26641/1997- 9665.2021.1.48-59.
  7. CrossRef
  8. Ziablitsev DS. Morphogenesis of pulmonary damage in lipopolysaccharide-induced acute aspiration bronchopneumonia. Morphologia. 2021;15(4):48-55. [Ukrainian]. doi:10.26641/1997-9665.2021.4.48-55.
  9. CrossRef
  10. Ziablitsev DS, Dyadik OO, Tikhomirov AO, Tsvetkova MM, Ziablitsev SV . Changes in the content and features of localization of angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) in acute experimental bronchopneumonia. Fiziol Zh. 2022;68(3):24-34. [Ukrainian]. doi:10.15407/ fz68.03.024.
  11. CrossRef
  12. Ziablitsev DS, Mykhailovska VV, Kurchenko AI. Dynamics of the content of hypoxia-inducible factor-α (HIF-1α) and vascular growth factor (VEGF) in the pulmonary tissue during the development of hemorrhagic pneumonia with fibrosis. Med Sci Ukr. 2025;3(21):94- 105. [Ukrainian]. doi:10.32345/2664-4738.3.2025.10.
  13. CrossRef
  14. Lotsios NS, Keskinidou C, Karagiannis SP, Papavassiliou KA, Papavassiliou AG, Kotanidou A, Dimopoulou I, Orfanos SE, Vassiliou AG. Expression and regulation of hypoxia-inducible factor signalling in acute lung inflammation. Cells. 2024 Dec 30;14(1):29. doi: 10.3390/ cells14010029.
  15. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  16. Del Vecchio L, Locatelli F. Hypoxia response and acute lung and kidney injury: possible implications for therapy of COVID-19. Clin Kidney J. 2020 Sep 2;13(4):494-9. doi: 10.1093/ckj/sfaa149.
  17. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  18. Ruan H, Zhang Q, Zhang YP, Li SS, Ran X. Unraveling the role of HIF-1α in sepsis: from pathophysiology to potential therapeutics - a narrative review. Crit Care. 2024 Вплив експериментальної терапії на легеневий вміст гіпоксііндуцибельного фактора-1α та фактора росту судин 15 Mar 27;28(1):100. doi: 10.1186/s13054-024-04885-4.
  19. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  20. Evans CE. Hypoxia-inducible factor signaling in inflammatory lung injury and repair. Cells. 2022 Jan 6;11(2):183. doi:10.3390/cells11020183
  21. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  22. Apte RS, Chen DS, Ferrara N. VEGF in signaling and disease: beyond discovery and development. Cell. 2019 Mar 7;176(6):1248-64. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.01.021.
  23. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  24. Jászai J, Schmidt MHH. Trends and challenges in tumor anti-angiogenic therapies. Cells. 2019 Sep 3;8(9):1102. doi: 10.3390/cells8091102.
  25. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  26. Epstein Shochet G, Bardenstein-Wald B, McElroy M, Kukuy A, Surber M, Edelstein E, Pertzov B, Kramer MR, Shitrit D. Hypoxia inducible factor 1a supports a pro-fibrotic phenotype loop in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Int J Mol Sci. 2021;22(7):3331. doi:10.3390/ ijms22073331.
  27. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  28. Amano H, Matsui Y, Hatanaka K, Hosono K, Ito Y. VEGFR1-tyrosine kinase signaling in pulmonary fibrosis. Inflamm Regen. 2021;41(1):16. doi:10.1186/s41232- 021-00166-7.
  29. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  30. May J, Mitchell JA, Jenkins RG. Beyond epithelial damage: vascular and endothelial contributions to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. J Clin Invest. 2023;133(18):e172058. doi:10.1172/JCI172058.
  31. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  32. Lee JW, Ko J, Ju C, Eltzschig HK. Hypoxia signaling in human diseases and therapeutic targets. Exp Mol Med. 2019;51(6):1-13.
  33. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  34. Annese T, Ruggieri S, De Giorgis M, Ribatti D, Tamma R, Nico B. α-Methyl-prednisolone normalizes the PKC mediated brain angiogenesis in dystrophic mdx mice. Brain Res Bull. 2019;147:69-77.
  35. CrossRef PubMed
  36. Liu Y, Xiang D, Zhang H, Yao H, Wang Y. Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1: A potential target to treat acute lung injury. Oxid Med Cell Long. 2020;2020:8871476.
  37. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  38. Hanumegowda C, Mohan ME. Hypoxia inducible factor- 1α in pulmonary fibrosis: A promising therapeutic target. Eur J Med Health Sci. 2025 Mar;7(2):27-31. doi:10.24018/ejmed.2025.7.2.2256
  39. CrossRef
  40. Xiang M, Jing H, Wang C, Novakovic V A, Shi J. Persistent lung injury and prothrombotic state in long COVID. Front Immunol. 2022 Apr 7;13:862522. doi:10.3389/ fimmu.2022.862522
  41. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  42. Zhou J, Xia X, An X, Liu D, Zhao H, Sun Z, Li W, Huang Q. New perspectives on the progression of pulmonary fibrosis: the cascade from aberrant microvascular endothelial cell activation to fibrosis. Front Med (Lausanne). 2025 Aug 21;12:1639043. doi:10.3389/ fmed.2025.1639043
  43. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral
  44. da Silva FPG, Matte R, Wiedmer DB, da Silva APG, Menin RM, Barbosa FB, Meneguzzi TAM, Pereira SB, Fausto AT, Klug L, Melim BP, Beltrão CJ. HIF-1α Pathway in COVID-19: A scoping review of its modulation and related treatments. Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Apr 28;26(9):4202. doi:10.3390/ijms26094202
  45. CrossRef PubMed PubMedCentral

© National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology, 2014-2026.