Issue Archive

[N-acetyl-L-cysteine reduces the ozone-induced lung inflammation response in mice.] [Article in Chinese]

CHEN Qing-Zi, FU Zhao-Di, ZHOU Yu-Bo, ZHOU Li-Fen, YANG Chun-Tao, LI Jian-Hua^*

Department of Physiology, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 511436, China

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the protective effect of the antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) on the lung inflammation caused by ozone (O3) exposure in mice. Thirty-two C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into control group, O3 group, O3+NAC group and NAC group. Mice were exposed to O3 (1.0 ppm) or fresh air for 3 h on the day 1, day 3 and day 5, respectively. NAC (100 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally applied to the mice 1 h before each exposure. At 24 h after the 3-time exposure, the alveolar wall structure was severely damaged and the infiltrated inflammatory cells were apparent perivascularly and peribronchiolarly. Significant increases in the total white blood cell count, macrophage, lymphocyte and neutrophil counts, as well as total protein concentration were observed in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) (P < 0.05). The IL-6, IL-8 (P < 0.01) and MDA levels (P < 0.05) in the lung homogenates were elevated coherently. Administration of NAC could attenuate the alveolar wall structure damage induced by O3 exposure and reduce the amount of infiltrated inflammatory cells, total and differential leukocyte counts (P < 0.05), as well as the IL-6, IL-8 (P < 0.01) and MDA release (P < 0.05). Western blotting results showed that the O3 exposure up-regulated the p38 MAPK and NF-κB p65 protein expression in the lung tissue of mice (P < 0.05), which could be alleviated by NAC (P < 0.05). These results indicated that NAC could protect against O3-induced pulmonary inflammation in mice. The beneficial effect of NAC might be related with the p38 MAPK and NF-κB p65 signal pathway.

Key words: N-acetyl-L-cysteine; ozone; lung; inflammation

Received: 2016-03-10　　Accepted: 2016-09-01

Corresponding author: 李建华　　E-mail: lijianh@hotmail.com

Citing This Article：

CHEN Qing-Zi, FU Zhao-Di, ZHOU Yu-Bo, ZHOU Li-Fen, YANG Chun-Tao, LI Jian-Hua. [N-acetyl-L-cysteine reduces the ozone-induced lung inflammation response in mice.] [Article in Chinese]. Acta Physiol Sin 2016; 68 (6): 767-774 (in Chinese with English abstract).