title: Expression of leukemia inhibitory factor in airway epithelial tissue of asthmatic rats.
abstract: In order to investigate the expression of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) in airway epithelial tissues of normal and asthmatic rats, the influence of dexamethasone and the role of LIF in pathogenesis of asthma, 30 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into 3 groups (10 for each group): normal group, asthma model group, and dexamethasone-interfered group. In asthma model group and dexamethasone-interfered group, asthma rat models were established by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of 10% ovalbumin (OVA) and challenge with 1% OVA via inhalation. Rats in dexamethasone-interfered group were pretreated with dexamethasone (2 mg/kg, i.p) 30 min before each challenge. The expression of LIF protein in lung was detected by immunohistochemistry. The results showed that LIF protein was mainly expressed in cytoplasm of bronchial epithelial cells. The expression of LIF protein in the airway epithelial tissue of asthma model group was significantly higher than that in normal group and dexamethasone-interfered group (P<0.01), but there was no significant difference between normal group and dexamethasone-interfered group (P>0.05). It was concluded that the expression of LIF was increased significantly in the airway epithelial tissue of the asthma rats, and dexamethasone could down-regulate the expression of LIF. It was suggested that LIF might play an important role in the pathogenesis of asthma as an inflammation regulator.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. xiongweining@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn
authors.forename: Weining
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Daxiong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Yongjian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Shengdao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Huijuan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Qingfeng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000378:metabolism*; D001980:Bronchi / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000494:pharmacology; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D004848:Epithelium / Q000378:metabolism*; D053605:Leukemia Inhibitory Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D010047:Ovalbumin; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley