Effects of dexamethasone on proliferation, chemotaxis, collagen I, and fibronectin-metabolism of human fetal lung fibroblasts

Premature infants at risk for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) are often tr eated with dexamethasone (Dex), which has been shown to suppress inflammato ry processes in the lung. To elucidate a possible direct influence on the f ibroproliferative component of the disease, we studied the effects of Dex i n therapeutic and supratherapeutic dosages (5-50 nmol/L) on proliferation, chemotaxis, procollagen I, and fibronectin metabolism of human fetal lung f ibroblasts in vitro. Proliferation was inhibited by Dex in a dose-dependent manner. Chemotactic activity in response to conditioned medium of human fetal fibroblasts also showed a dose-dependent inhibition after pretreatment with Dex. The amount of procollagen I C-terminal propeptide and fibronectin per cell in the cell culture supernatant was increased in the presence of Dex. Our results show that Dex does not uniformly suppress the fibroproliferativ e activity of human fetal lung fibroblasts, which may explain in pari the u nsatisfactory long-term effects of Dex treatment in BPD. (C) 2001 Wiley-Lis s, Inc.