title: Oxygen free radical involvement in acute lung injury induced by H5N1 virus in mice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acute lung injury is an important cause of death in humans infected with H5N1. It has been found that oxygen free radicals (OFRs) are elevated in lung tissue during influenza virus infections. In this study, we used a mouse model to explore the role of OFRs in acute lung injury caused by H5N1 viral infection.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four- to six-week-old male specific pathogen-free BALB/c mice were inoculated intranasally with 10(5) 50% tissue culture infective doses (TCID50) of highly pathogenic A/Chicken/Hebei/108/2002 (H5N1) viruses and were then given 1000 IU of lauric acid modified superoxide dismutase (LA-SOD) by intraperitoneal injection, starting 2 days post-infection and continuing for 6 days.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The extent of lung injury and the concentration of OFRs were higher, and the SOD activity was lower in H5N1 virus-infected mice than that in uninfected control mice on days 3, 6, and 7 post-inoculation. Weak amelioration of clinical signs, a minor decrease in the total mortality and the extent of lung injury, and the lower OFRs concentration were seen in the LA-SOD treatment group, but a reduction in lung virus titers was not observed in the LA-SOD treatment at all time points.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The LA-SOD treatment has a mild inhibitory effect on H5N1 influenza virus infection in mice. OFRs, therefore, might play an important role in the pathogenesis of acute lung injury induced by H5N1 virus.
authors: Department of Pathophysiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China; Institute of Molecular Ecology and Evolution, Institutes for Advanced Interdisciplinary Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
authors: Guimei
authors: G
authors: He
authors: Changgui
authors: C
authors: Dong
authors: Zhihua
authors: Z
authors: Luan
authors: Bronwyn M
authors: BM
authors: McAllan
authors: Tong
authors: T
authors: Xu
authors: Lihong
authors: L
authors: Zhao
authors: Jian
authors: J
authors: Qiao
mesh_terms: D055371:Acute Lung Injury; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005609:Free Radicals / Q000633:toxicity*; D053124:Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype / Q000502:physiology*; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009976:Orthomyxoviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D005609:Free Radicals
keywords: Acute lung injury; H5N1 avian influenza A virus; oxygen free radical; superoxide