title: [Effect of melatonin on p38MAPKsignaling pathway in rats with phosgene-induced lung injury].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effect of melatonin (MT) on p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway in rats with phosgene-induced lung injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty specific pathogen-free male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into phosgene inhalation group, air control group, saline control group, MT treatment group, and SB203580 (specific inhibitor of p38 MAPK) group, with 10 mice in each group. All groups except the air control group were exposed to phosgene, and the animals were sacrificed 6 h later. Lung wet/dry weight (W/D) ratio and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) and activity of myeloperoxidase (MPO) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were measured. The qualitative and quantitative expression of p38 MAPK and phospho-p38 MAPK (p-p38) was measured by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blot, respectively. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) level in lung tissue was determined by Western blot.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with the air control group, the phosgene inhalation group had significantly increased lung W/D ratio and neutrophil count in BALF (P < 0.01); the MT treatment group had significantly lower neutrophil count and lung W/D ratio than the phosgene inhalation group (P < 0.05). IHC demonstrated that the air control group had relatively weak expression of p-p38 in lung tissue; the expression of p-p38 was significantly up-regulated after phosgene inhalation, and it was mainly distributed in infiltrating inflammatory cells and vascular endothelial cells, positive in the cytoplasm and nucleus of many cells. The distribution of p-p38-positive cells in the MT treatment and SB203580 groups was similar to that in the phosgene inhalation group, but the MT treatment and SB203580 groups had a significantly reduced number of cells with p-p38-positive nuclei and a significantly reduced intensity of p-p38 expression signals. The phosgene inhalation group had significantly increased content of MDA and NO and activity of MPO compared with the air control group (P < 0.01); the MT treatment and SB203580 groups had significantly reduced content of MDA and NO and activity of MPO compared with the phosgene inhalation group (P < 0.05), but had higher content of MDA and NO and activity of MPO than the air control group. The Western blot showed that the phosgene inhalation group had significantly increased expression of iNOS and p-p38 compared with the air control group (P < 0.01); the MT treatment and SB203580 groups had lower expression of iNOS and p-p38 than the phosgene inhalation group (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MT and SB203580 have a significant protective effect in rats with phosgene-induced lung injury, and the mechanism may be associated with scavenging free radicals and inhibiting activation of p38 MAPK and expression of iNOS.
authors.affiliation: Emergency & Intensive Care Center for Chemical Accident of Jinshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai 201508, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Emergency & Intensive Care Center for Chemical Accident of Jinshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai 201508, China.
authors.forename: Daikun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Emergency & Intensive Care Center for Chemical Accident of Jinshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai 201508, China.
authors.forename: Yiru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: Emergency & Intensive Care Center for Chemical Accident of Jinshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai 201508, China.
authors.forename: Daojian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Emergency & Intensive Care Center for Chemical Accident of Jinshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Shanghai 201508, China. E-mail: j1999sh@163.com.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid; D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents / Q000633:toxicity; D007093:Imidazoles; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects; D055370:Lung Injury / Q000139:chemically induced; D008297:Male; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000009:adverse effects; D008550:Melatonin / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000009:adverse effects; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II / Q000378:metabolism; D010705:Phosgene / Q000633:toxicity; D011725:Pyridines; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012128:Respiratory Distress Syndrome / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents; D007093:Imidazoles; D011725:Pyridines; D010705:Phosgene; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D008315:Malondialdehyde; C496319:NOS2 protein, human; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D008550:Melatonin; C093642:SB 203580