Nidorandil attenuates proliferation of PA-SMCs in MCT-injured lungs.

Immunofluorescent double staining of lung frozen sections for Ki67 and αSMA was performed. The number of proliferating PA-SMCs with Ki67 positive nuclei expressed as the percentage of Ki67-positive cells over the total number of αSMA-positive SMCs in the media of 30–40 PAs (external diameter, 20–100 µm) per rat was significantly reduced by treatment with nicorandil and ZVAD-fmk. In contrast, glibenclamide and l-NAME diminished the effect of nicorandil, respectively. ^#P<0.01 vs. normal control; ^*P<0.05 and ^**P<0.01 vs. vehicle; ^‡P<0.01 vs. nicorandil (5.0 mg·kg⁻¹·day⁻¹).