Dihydroartemisinin alleviates skin fibrosis and endothelial dysfunction in bleomycin-induced skin fibrosis models.

The results of the present study revealed that oral and topical DHA administration ameliorated tissue fibrosis and protected dermal blood vessels from bleomycin-induced EndoMT. Our study has elucidated the value of repurposing DHA for the treatment of SSc. Key Points • Oral or topical usage of DHA alleviated dermal fibrosis and EndoMT in bleomycin-induced skin fibrosis mice models. • DHA autophagy dependently inhibited fibroblast activation and collagen deposition via PI3K-ATK pathway. • DHA inhibited EndoMT of HUVECs induced by TGF-β1 by the downregulation of α-SMA and the upregulation of CD31 and VE-cadherin.