Effect of ulinastatin on the expression of heat shock protein 70 and NF-kappaB in lung tissue in rats with paraquat poisoned

Abstract

To observe the expression levels of heat shock protein 70 (hsp70) and NF-kappaB p65 mRNA in lung tissue of acute paraquat (PQ) poisoning rats, and intervention effects of ulinastatin (UTI). Seventy-two Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into three groups: PQ poisoning group, UTI group and control group. The rats were exposed intragastrically to PQ at the dose of 80 mg/kg to establish a model of the rat acute lung injury. The UTI group was intervened by peritoneal injection with 10000 U/kg UTI in 30 minutes. On the 12, 24, 48, 72 h after exposure, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in lung tissue were detected. The expression of the NF-kappaB p65 mRNA and hsp70 mRNA in lung tissue was detected by the reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). The lung pathological changes of rats were observed. The degree of lung injury in PQ group and UTI group was higher than that in control group. But in UTI group the degree of lung injury was lower than PQ group. MPO activity in the lung tissues in PQ group was (31.72 +/- 6.42), (56.23 +/- 8.63), (87.21 +/- 10.02) and (107.21 +/- 13.52) micro/g in 12, 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively which was significantly higher than that [(11.38 +/- 1.25) micro/g] in control group (P < 0.01). MPO activity in the lung tissues in UTI group was (15.65 +/- 3.21), (35.98 +/- 5.74), (59.33 +/- 9.65) and (71.25 +/- 10.58) micro/g in 12, 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively which was significantly lower than those in PQ group (P < 0.01). The expression levels of NF-kappaB p65 mRNA of lung tissues in UTI group in 12, 24, 48 and 72 h were 0.3288 +/- 0.0147, 0.5337 +/- 0.0328, 0.7357 +/- 0.0424 and 0.7547 +/- 0.0905, respectively, which were significantly lower that those (0.4185 +/- 0.0294, 0.8532 +/- 0.0841, 0.9554 +/- 0.0975 and 1.0094 +/- 0.0703) in PQ group (P < 0.01). hsp70 mRNA expression levels in 12, 24, 48 and 72 h of the UTI group were 0.5193 +/- 0.0254, 0.8289 +/- 0.0606, 0.7566 +/- 0.0277 and 0.4873 +/- 0.0105, respectively, which were significantly higher than those (0.3897 +/- 0.0125, 0.5904 +/- 0.0186, 0.4007 +/- 0.0237 and 0.2293 +/- 0.0137) in PQ group (P < 0.01). The expression levels of hsp70 mRNA and NF-kappaB p65 mRNA of rats after intoxication increased significantly. UTI can protect the lung tissues by elevating the expression of hsp70 and reducing the expression of NF-kappaB in the lung tissues of rats with acute paraquat poisoning.