@mastersthesis{10902/26007,
year = {2022},
month = {6},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10902/26007},
abstract = {ABSTRACT :
The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) marks the 
third highly pathogenic coronavirus to spill over into the human population. The coronavirus 
disease 19 (COVID-19) is a highly transmittable and pathogenic viral infection caused by SARS CoV-2, which emerged in 2019, spreading around the world affecting millions of people 
worldwide. Studies indicate that one of the life-threatening pathologies observed in COVID-19 
patients is a chronic and progressive fibrotic lung disease. Pulmonary fibrosis resulting from 
active fibroblasts under stress leading to overexpression and accumulation of collagen fibers in 
lungs compromising their proper functioning. 
Many plants possess a variety of bioactive compounds with many properties, which are used in 
traditional and modern medicine, due to their potential to produce phytopharmaceutical 
compounds. We have analyzed the potential antifibrotic activity of extracts derived of 
Marchantia polymorpha from which crucial genes for plant stress response were identified in 
SARS-CoV-2 induced pulmonary fibrosis. 
To recreate an in vitro COVID-19 pro-fibrotic lung environment, neumocytes type II (ATII) cells 
and fibroblasts were extracted from clinical samples, and mixed with SARS-CoV-2. Using qPCR 
analysis, immunofluorescence, enzymatic detections, transmission electron microscopy and Q FISH techniques we could observed differences in fibroblasts activity under SARS-CoV-2 
infection and a protective antifibrotic effect of some Marchantia polymorpha-derived extracts 
that reduced fibrosis in a COVID-19-infected lung environment in vitro.
These results are an insight of the potential as anti-fibrotic drugs of extracts derived from plants 
such as Marchantia polymorpha to offer new therapeutic solutions to patients suffering from 
fibrosis secondary to COVID-19 infection},
title = {Study of protection against  pulmonary fibrosis by plant extracts after SARS-CoV-2 infection},
author = {Ortiz Bravo, Cristina},
}