Characterization of inflammation in a rat model of acute lung injury after repeated pulmonary lavage.

AIM OF THE STUDY: Repeated pulmonary lavage allows to reliably reproduce failure of gas exchange and major histological findings of acute lung injury (ALI). However, because the capacity of pulmonary lavage to induce pulmonary inflammation is not well established in rodents, this study aims to characterize the induction of pulmonary inflammation in a rat model of ALI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male adult rats were divided into a treatment group (n = 9) that received pulmonary lavage with consecutive mechanical ventilation, and a control group that received mechanical ventilation only (n = 9). Arterial blood gas analyses were performed every 30 min throughout the study. Pressure-volume curves, and lung tissue and plasma samples, were obtained at 240 min after the start of mechanical ventilation. Protein content and surface activity of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was assessed. Transcriptional and translational regulation of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-1ß, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10 was determined in lungs and plasma. Markers of cellular stress were measured in lung tissue. RESULTS: Pulmonary lavage significantly decreased lung compliance, induced hypoxia and hypercapnia, and mediated respiratory acidosis. Protein content of lavage fluid was significantly increased and contained washed out surfactant. Expression of IL-1ß, TNF-α, and IL-6 mRNA and protein expression of IL-1ß and TNF-α was significantly induced in lavaged lungs, without spillover into the systemic circulation. Markers of cellular stress were significantly upregulated in lavaged lungs. CONCLUSIONS: This model of ALI applied in rats can induce pulmonary inflammation. The model might be used to develop therapeutic strategies that target pulmonary inflammation in ALI.

Erythropoietin modulates autophagy signaling in the developing rat brain in an in vivo model of oxygen-toxicity.

Autophagy is a self-degradative process that involves turnover and recycling of cytoplasmic components in healthy and diseased tissue. Autophagy has been shown to be protective at the early stages of programmed cell death but it can also promote apoptosis under certain conditions. Earlier we demonstrated that oxygen contributes to the pathogenesis of neonatal brain damage, which can be ameliorated by intervention with recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEpo). Extrinsic- and intrinsic apoptotic pathways are involved in oxygen induced neurotoxicity but the role of autophagy in this model is unclear. We analyzed the expression of autophagy activity markers in the immature rodent brain after exposure to elevated oxygen concentrations. We observed a hyperoxia-exposure dependent regulation of autophagy-related gene (Atg) proteins Atg3, 5, 12, Beclin-1, microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3), LC3A-II, and LC3B-II which are all key autophagy activity proteins. Interestingly, a single injection with rhEpo at the onset of hyperoxia counteracted these oxygen-mediated effects. Our results indicate that rhEpo generates its protective effect by modifying the key autophagy activity proteins.