Pharmacological Modulation of Injury-Induced Vascular Remodeling by Colchicine: An Integrated Experimental and...

Background: Colchicine is a microtubule-targeting anti-inflammatory agent with emerging relevance in cardiovascular disease; however, its effects on injury-induced vascular remodeling remain incompletely defined. Methods: In this study, a rat iliac artery clamp injury model was used to evaluate the effects of colchicine (0.5 mg/kg/day, oral gavage) over 28 days. Histomorphometric, histopathological, and immunohistochemical analyses were performed to assess vascular remodeling. In parallel, molecular docking and STRING/Cytoscape-based protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analyses were conducted to provide structural and systems-level context. Results: Colchicine significantly reduced intimal thickness, the intima-to-media (I/M) ratio, luminal stenosis, adventitial thickness, and collagen deposition, while preserving the lumen area and improving the remodeling index. Medial thickness was not significantly affected. Proliferative activity showed a decreasing trend without statistical significance. Circulating inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α and IL-1β, did not differ significantly between groups. Docking analyses suggested potential interactions with β-tubulin, ADAM17, NLRP3, IKKβ, and RELA, while network analysis identified an interaction architecture centered on NF-κB-related regulatory components and inflammasome-associated signaling pathways. Conclusions: Colchicine attenuates injury-induced vascular remodeling in this experimental model. These findings, together with complementary in silico analyses, suggest a multi-target, inflammation-associated framework involving NF-κB-related and inflammasome-linked pathways. The in silico analyses provide supportive mechanistic context but do not establish causal relationships.