 interstitial pulmonary fibrosis induced by intratracheal instillation of bleomycin ( bl ) involves an excess production of reactive oxygen species , unavailability of adequate levels of nad and atp to repair the injured pulmonary epithelium , and an overexuberant lung collagen reactivity followed by deposition of highly cross - linked mature collagen fibrils resistant to enzymatic degradation . in the present study 
 , we have demonstrated that dietary supplementation with taurine and niacin offered almost complete protection against the lung fibrosis in a multidose bl hamster model . 
 the mechanisms for the protective effect of taurine and niacin are multifaceted . 
 these include the ability of taurine to scavenge hocl and stabilize the biomembrane ; niacin 's ability to replenish the bl - induced depletion of nad and atp ; and the combined effect of taurine and niacin to suppress all aspects of bl - induced increases in the lung collagen reactivity , a hallmark of interstitial pulmonary fibrosis . 
 it was concluded from the data presented at this conference that the combined treatment with taurine and niacin , which offers a multipronged approach , will have great therapeutic potential in the intervention of the development of chemically induced interstitial lung fibrosis in animals and humans.imagesfigure 4 . 
 afigure 4 . 
 b 
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