DL0805-1, a novel Rho-kinase inhibitor, attenuates lung injury and vasculopathy in a rat model of monocrotaline-induced pulmonary hypertension

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a severe chronic cardiopulmonary dysfunction characterized by impaired of pulmonary circulation. Current therapeutic drugs mainly act as vasodilators, leading to an unsatisfactory prognosis. The Rho/ROCK pathway plays an important role in the cardiovascular system. DL0805-1, a novel Rho kinase inhibitor, synthesized by our institute and showed a protective effect on lung tissues and reduced right ventricular systolic pressure in a hypertensive crisis rat model in our previous study. The present study aims to explore the efficacy of DL0805-1 on PH. The classical PH rat model induced by a single subcutaneous injection of monocrotaline was used to investigate the therapeutic effect of DL0805-1 on PH and the underlying mechanisms. The results showed that the high dose of DL0805-1 had a better effect on the survival rate and controlled right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) of PH rats than fasudil. DL0805-1 also exhibited a superior lung protective effect and significantly improved pulmonary vascular function compared with bosentan. Regarding molecular mechanisms, DL0805-1 inhibited the ROCK pathway in both pulmonary arteries and lung tissues. Taken together, DL0805-1 alleviated lung injury and vasculopathy in experimental PH rats. DL0805-1 has the potential to be developed as a candidate drug for the treatment of PH. [Display omitted] •DL0805-1 showed good therapeutic effects on MCT-induced rat PH.•DL0805-1 inhibited Rho-kinase pathway both in lung tissues and pulmonary arteries.•DL0805-1 effectively alleviated lung injury and vasculopathy in MCT induced-PH rats.•DL0805-1 is promising to be a candidate for the combination therapy of PH.