The tick-derived rBmTI-A protease inhibitor attenuates the histological and functional changes induced by cigarette smoke exposure.

Introduction: Smoking is the main risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease development and cigarette smoke (CS) exposure is considered an important approach to reproduce in rodents this human disease. We have previously shown that in an elastase-induced model of emphysema, the administration of a protease inhibitor (rBmTI-A) prevented and attenuated tissue destruction in mice. Thus, in this study we aimed to verify the effects of rBmTI-A administration on the physiopathological mechanisms of CS-induced emphysema.