Materials and Methods: A total of 42 adults, male, 12-week-old Wistar albino rats were obtained for the study. The rats were divided randomly into three groups, as sericin, talcum powder, and control group. After the administration of an anesthetic, the agents were administrated through a left thoracotomy. The rats were sacrificed 12 days later through cardiac puncture. The bFGF and hs-CRP levels were examined in plasma.

Results: The mean rat plasma bFGF levels were 251.7 pg/mL in the sericin group (range: 101 to 821 pg/mL), 72.3 pg/mL in the talcum powder group (range: 24 to 131 pg/mL), and 133.1 pg/mL in the control group (range: 32 to 320 pg/mL). A significant difference was noted in the results of a Scheffe test between the sericin and talcum powder groups (p < 0.05, p = 0.046). Mean rat plasma hs-CRP levels were 1.038 ng/mL in the sericin group (range: 0.677 to 2.815 ng/mL), 1.343 ng/mL in the talcum powder group (range: 0.606 to 5.662 ng/mL), and 0.945 ng/mL in the control group (range: 0.586 to 1.261 ng/mL), indicating no significant difference among the groups.

Conclusions: It was found that bFGF levels were significantly higher in the sericin pleurodesis group than in the talcum powder group, indicating the biochemical success of intrapleural sericin administration in inducing pleurodesis. On the other hand, hs-CRP, a marker of inflammation, was not found to be significant, indicating that hs-CRP returns to normal levels due to its short half-life. Keywords : sericin, fibroblast, fibrosis, growth factor, C-reactive protein, pleurodesis