Review
The multifaceted role of pirfenidone and its novel targets
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* Corresponding author: Juan Armendáriz-Borunda armdbo@gmail.com
1 Institute for Molecular Biology and Gene Therapy, Department of Molecular Biology and Genomics, University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico
2 O.P.D. Hospital Civil de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico
Fibrogenesis & Tissue Repair 2010, 3:16 doi:10.1186/1755-1536-3-16
Published: 1 September 2010Abstract
Background
Pirfenidone (PFD) is a molecule that exhibits antifibrotic properties in a variety of in vitro and animal models of lung, liver and renal fibrosis. These pathologies share many fibrogenic pathways with an abnormal fibrous wound-healing process; consequently, tissue repair and tissue regeneration-regulating mechanisms are altered.
Objective
To investigate the usefulness of PFD as an antifibrotic agent in clinical and experimental models of fibrotic disease.
Conclusions
There is a growing understanding of the molecular effects of PFD on the wound healing mechanism, leading to novel approaches for the management of fibrosis in lung, liver and renal tissues. Although the optimum treatment for fibrosis remains undefined, it is possible that combined therapeutic regimens that include this wide-application molecule, pirfenidone, could offer a useful treatment for fibrotic disease.