Figure 2

Time-course of changes in idiopathic interstitial pneumonia markers. Treatment with the investigational drug was conducted from days 1 to 28. Diamonds, squares, and circles in panels A, B, C, and D indicate the placebo, 40 mg lecithinized superoxide dismutase (PC-SOD), and 80 mg PC-SOD, respectively. (A) Serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) significantly improved compared to the placebo in the 80 mg PC-SOD group on day 28 (^† P < 0.05). Serum LDH returned to the baseline level within 56 days after the discontinuation of PC-SOD. (B) Serum surfactant protein (SP)-A significantly improved compared to the placebo in the 80 mg PC-SOD group on day 28 (^† P < 0.05). Serum SP-A returned to the baseline level within 56 days after the discontinuation of PC-SOD. (C) Serum SP-D did not improve with PC-SOD treatment. (D) Serum Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) did not improve with PC-SOD treatment. Ordinate: Relative values of serum levels of LDH (A), SP-A (B), SP-D (C), and KL-6 (D) to their baseline levels (arbitrarily set as unity). Abscissa: Time (days) after the study was started.