Antifibrotic activities of pirfenidone in animal models

Pirfenidone is an orally active small molecule that has recently been evaluated in large clinical trials for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a fatal disease in which the uncontrolled deposition of extracellular matrix leads to progressive loss of lung function. This review describes the activity of pirfenidone in several well-characterised animal models of fibrosis in the lung, liver, heart and kidney. In these studies, treatment-related reductions in fibrosis are associated with modulation of cytokines and growth factors, with the most commonly reported effect being reduction of transforming growth factor-β. The consistent antifibrotic activity of pirfenidone in a broad array of animal models provides a strong preclinical rationale for the clinical characterisation of pirfenidone in pulmonary fibrosis and, potentially, other conditions with a significant fibrotic component.