title: Role of tumor necrosis factor in oxygen toxicity.
abstract: mRNA from lungs of mice exposed to high-dose oxygen (greater than 95%) for 3 days demonstrated increased expression of the genes for tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin-1, and interleukin-6 compared with mRNA from lungs of mice exposed to room air. Daily treatment of mice exposed to high-dose oxygen with an antibody to TNF improved survival compared with mice receiving a similar dose of control immunoglobulin G. Pretreatment of mice with repetitive sublethal intraperitoneal doses of recombinant human TNF for 3 days or a single intravenous dose followed by exposure to high-dose oxygen afforded a significant survival advantage compared with high-dose oxygen-exposed mice pretreated with vehicle or interleukin-1. The repetitive intraperitoneal TNF pretreatment reduced the development of interstitial pneumonitis, pulmonary edema, and lung weight gain associated with oxygen toxicity and enhanced expression of the gene for the free radical protective enzyme manganous superoxide dismutase in lung tissue, a gene that is augmented as mice are exposed to high-dose oxygen. Furthermore a single intravenous dose of TNF 24 h after oxygen exposure was still protective. The results suggest that the toxicity of oxygen therapy can be partially ameliorated by either treatment with anti-TNF antibody or pretreatment and early treatment with TNF. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that oxygen exposure induces TNF, which causes part of the toxicity of high-dose oxygen, and that pretreatment or early treatment with TNF induces the gene for an enzyme that recently has been shown to be very effective in protecting mice from the toxicity of oxygen.
authors.affiliation: Surgical Metabolism and Thoracic Oncology Sections, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Pogrebniak
authors.forename: H I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Pass
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Buresh
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Merino
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kauffman
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Venzon
authors.forename: H N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Langstein
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Norton
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000235:genetics; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000235:genetics; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D055370:Lung Injury; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D010100:Oxygen; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000235:genetics; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D007375:Interleukin-1; D015850:Interleukin-6; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D010100:Oxygen