Markers of oxidative stress and inflammation increase in the lung and liver of partially irradiated rats

ABSTRACT

This manuscript seeks to examine the induction of oxidative stress (OS) and the inflammatory response in the abscopal liver and lung of partially irradiated rats in comparison with the effects induced in the same organs of whole-body irradiated rats. For this purpose, 20 Sprague‒Dawley adult male rats were divided into four groups: 1) the control group, the nonirradiated group; 2) the 2 Gy whole-body γ-irradiated (WB) group; 3) the 2 Gy cranially γ-irradiated (Cr) group; and 4) the 2 Gy lower-limb γ-irradiated (LL) group. The rats were euthanized 24 h postirradiation, and lung and liver samples were collected for MDA, GSH, NF-κB, TGF-β1, caspase 3 and p53 analyses. Our data demonstrated increased levels of MDA in the liver and lung of the partially irradiated groups associated with GSH overexpression. Our data also revealed notable elevation in NF-κB and TGF-β1 levels in both organs associated with significant increase in p53 and caspase-3 levels in the partially irradiated groups. Our findings provide evidence of OS and inflammatory response in abscopal liver and lung tissues. Furthermore, the abscopal effect (AE) induced was comparable and, in some cases, greater than the effect of direct irradiation reported in the whole-body irradiated group.

KEYWORDS:

• Ionizing radiation (IR)
• abscopal effect (AE)
• malondialdehyde (MDA)
• transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)
• p53

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Centre, Cairo, under Grant number 13020305.