Ascorbate and deferoxamine administration after chlorine exposure decrease mortality and lung injury in mice.
Chlorine (Cl(2)) gas exposure poses an environmental and occupational hazard that frequently results in acute lung injury. There is no effective treatment. We assessed the efficacy of antioxidants, administered after exposure, in decreasing mortality and lung injury in C57BL/6 mice exposed to 600 ppm of Cl(2) for 45 minutes and returned to room air. Ascorbate and deferoxamine were administered intramuscularly every 12 hours and by nose-only inhalation every 24 hours for 3 days starting after 1 hour after exposure. Control mice were exposed to Cl(2) and treated with vehicle (saline or water). Mortality was reduced fourfold in the treatment group compared with the control group (22 versus 78%; P = 0.007). Surviving animals in the treatment group had significantly lower protein concentrations, cell counts, and epithelial cells in their bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Lung tissue ascorbate correlated inversely with BAL protein as well as with the number of neutrophils and epithelial cells. In addition, lipid peroxidation was reduced threefold in the BAL of mice treated with ascorbate and deferoxamine when compared with the control group. Administration of ascorbate and deferoxamine reduces mortality and decreases lung injury through reduction of alveolar-capillary permeability, inflammation, and epithelial sloughing and lipid peroxidation.
Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 35294, USA.
Sotirios G
SG
Zarogiannis
Asta
A
Jurkuvenaite
Solana
S
Fernandez
Stephen F
SF
Doran
Amit K
AK
Yadav
Giuseppe L
GL
Squadrito
Edward M
EM
Postlethwait
Larry
L
Bowen
Sadis
S
Matalon
D055371:Acute Lung Injury / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents / Q000633:toxicity; D002713:Chlorine / Q000633:toxicity*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003676:Deferoxamine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019570:Inhalation Exposure; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D017262:Siderophores / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015996:Survival Rate
D000975:Antioxidants; D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents; D017262:Siderophores; D002713:Chlorine; D003676:Deferoxamine; D001205:Ascorbic Acid