Abstract
Context: Paraquat exposure commonly occurs in the developing countries and the mortality rate is high. However, there is currently no consensus on the efficacy of treatment for paraquat exposure.
Objective: The study was aimed to explore the effects of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) induced protein 6 (TSG-6) on acute lung injury (ALI) following paraquat exposure in rats.
Materials and methods: Male Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into the sham group (n = 8), the paraquat group (n = 8), and the paraquat TSG-6-treated group (n = 8). Rats were administered with 50 mg/kg of paraquat intraperitoneally. At 1 h after exposure, rats were treated with 30 μg of recombinant human TSG-6 (rhTSG-6) intraperitoneally. After 6 h of exposure, ALI scores were evaluated by histology and the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in lung was assayed using real-time RT-PCR.
Results: ALI scores were significantly lower in the paraquat TSG-6-treated group, compared with the paraquat group (p < 0.05). The expression of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α mRNA was significantly lower in the paraquat TSG-6-treated group, compared with the paraquat group (p < 0.01, respectively).
Discussion and conclusion: Administration of rhTSG-6 attenuates ALI following paraquat exposure by suppressing inflammatory response.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank H. E. Cheng for providing technical help in pathological examination.
Declaration of interest
The authors have no conflict of interest.