Prenatal treatment with retinoic acid accelerates type 1 alveolar cell proliferation of the hypoplastic lung in the nitrofen model of congenital diaphragmatic hernia.
OBJECTIVE
Retinoids play an important role in lung development. A recent study has demonstrated that prenatal treatment with retinoic acid (RA) stimulates alveologenesis in hypoplastic lungs in the nitrofen model of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Furthermore, it has also been demonstrated that the differentiation from alveolar epithelial cells type II (AECs-II) into alveolar epithelial cells type I (AECs-I), which is the key process in lung development, is disturbed in this model. We hypothesized that retinoids promote alveologenesis by stimulating differentiation of AECs-II to AECs-I at the end of gestation; and therefore, we investigated the effect of RA on the pulmonary expression of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), a marker for AECs-I, and thyroid transcription factor 1 (Ttf-1), a marker for AECs-II, in nitrofen-induced hypoplastic lungs.


METHODS
Pregnant rats were exposed to either olive oil or 100 mg nitrofen on day of gestation (D) 9. Five milligrams per kilogram of RA was given intraperitoneally on D18, D19, and D20; and fetuses were recovered on D21. We had 4 study groups: control (n = 7), control + RA (n = 7), CDH (n = 6), and CDH + RA (n = 6). The expression of ICAM-1 and Ttf-1 was analysed in each lung by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. One-way analysis of variance test was used for statistical analysis.


RESULTS
Expression levels of ICAM-1 were significantly reduced in CDH lungs compared with normal controls, whereas levels increased significantly in CDH group after the addition of RA (P < .05). Expression levels of Ttf-1 were significantly decreased in lungs from RA-treated CDH animals compared with CDH without RA (P < .05). The ICAM-1 and Ttf-1 immunoreactivity demonstrated similar pattern of expression in various groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results demonstrate that prenatal treatment with RA accelerates AEC-I proliferation in the hypoplastic lung in CDH.
Sugimoto
Kaoru
K
The Children's Research Centre, Our Lady's Children's Hospital, 12 Dublin, Ireland.
Takayasu
Hajime
H
Nakazawa
Nana
N
Montedonico
Sandra
S
Puri
Prem
P
D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006548:Hernia, Diaphragmatic / Q000503:physiopathology; D065630:Hernias, Diaphragmatic, Congenital; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008168:Lung / Q000002:abnormalities*; D010647:Phenyl Ethers; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal; D011295:Prenatal Care; D011336:Probability; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012016:Reference Values; D015619:Respiratory System Abnormalities / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000494:pharmacology*
D010647:Phenyl Ethers; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014212:Tretinoin; C007350:nitrofen