Induction of heat stress proteins is associated with decreased mortality in an animal model of acute lung injury.
This study examined the hypothesis that transient, whole-body hyperthermia would reduce lung damage and/or mortality in a previously described animal model of acute lung injury. Normal, adult Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned either to a heated (n = 40) or to a sham-heated (n = 49) group. Heated animals were warmed to 41 to 42 degrees C 18 h before intratracheal instillation of phospholipase A2. Forty-eight hours after phospholipase A2 exposure, the two groups were compared in a blinded fashion for mortality rate, PaO2, AaPO2, lung wet/dry weight ratio, alveolar inflammatory cell number, and lung histopathology. Heated, injured animals exhibited a reduced mortality rate and less lung damage than did unheated animals: mortality (zero versus 27%, p < 0.001); AaPO2 (22 +/- 3 versus 36 +/- 15 mm Hg, p < 0.002); lung lavage cell counts (5.3 +/- 3 versus 16.9 +/- 7 x 10(6)/ml, p < 0.05); lung wet/dry weight ratio (4.1 +/- 0.6 versus 5.1 +/- 0.7, p < 0.025); parenchymal lung injury fraction (0.10 versus 0.51, p < 0.001). Transcription and translation of heat shock proteins (HSP70) were examined by Northern and Western analysis. Pulmonary tissue HSP70 mRNA was elevated 1 h after heating. HSP72 protein levels were increased over baseline levels between 12 and 72 h after whole-body hyperthermia, but they were unchanged in sham-heated animals. These data indicate that thermal pretreatment associated with the induction of HSP72 protein synthesis, attenuates tissue damage and mortality in experimental lung injury.
Villar
J
J
University of Toronto, Department of Pathology, Ontario, Canada.
Edelson
J D
JD
Post
M
M
Mullen
J B
JB
Slutsky
A S
AS
D000818:Animals; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006979:Hyperthermia, Induced; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology; D010741:Phospholipases A; D054467:Phospholipases A2; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012128:Respiratory Distress Syndrome / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology
D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D010741:Phospholipases A; D054467:Phospholipases A2