title: Amphetamine modulates cellular recruitment and airway reactivity in a rat model of allergic lung inflammation.
abstract: Asthma is characterized by pulmonary cellular infiltration, vascular exudation and airway hyperresponsiveness. Several drugs that modify central nervous system (CNS) activity can modulate the course of asthma. Amphetamine (AMPH) is a highly abused drug that presents potent stimulating effects on the CNS and has been shown to induce behavioral, biochemical and immunological effects. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of AMPH on pulmonary cellular influx, vascular permeability and airway reactivity. AMPH effects on adhesion molecule expression, IL-10 and IL-4 release and mast cell degranulation were also studied. Male Wistar rats were sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA) plus alum via subcutaneous injection. One week later, the rats received another injection of OVA-alum (booster). Two weeks after this booster, the rats were subjected to AMPH treatment 12 h prior to the OVA airway challenge. In rats treated with AMPH, the OVA challenge reduced cell recruitment into the lung, the vascular permeability and the cellular expression of ICAM-1 and Mac-1. Additionally, elevated levels of IL-10 and IL-4 were found in samples of lung explants from allergic rats. AMPH treatment, in comparison, increased IL-10 levels but reduced those of IL-4 in the lung explants. Moreover, the tracheal responsiveness to methacholine (MCh), as well as to an in vitro OVA challenge, was reduced by AMPH treatment, and levels of PCA titers were not modified by the drug. Our findings suggest that single AMPH treatment down-regulates several parameters of lung inflammation, such as cellular migration, vascular permeability and tracheal responsiveness. These results also indicate that AMPH actions on allergic lung inflammation include endothelium-leukocyte interaction mechanisms, cytokine release and mast cell degranulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Paula Ligeiro
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lino-Dos-Santos-Franco
authors.forename: Eduardo Kenji
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Hamasato
authors.forename: Wanderley
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Quinteiro-Filho
authors.forename: Cristina Bichels
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Hebeda
authors.forename: Amílcar Sabino
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Damazo
authors.forename: Sandra Helena Poliselli
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Farsky
authors.forename: Wothan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tavares-de-Lima
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Palermo-Neto
mesh_terms: D000661:Amphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000166:cytology; D002199:Capillary Permeability / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D007249:Inflammation / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000502:physiology; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000502:physiology; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000502:physiology; D019041:L-Selectin / Q000502:physiology; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016177:Macrophage-1 Antigen / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D016177:Macrophage-1 Antigen; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1; D019041:L-Selectin; D016753:Interleukin-10; D015847:Interleukin-4; D000661:Amphetamine