title: Carnosine markedly ameliorates H9N2 swine influenza virus-induced acute lung injury.
abstract: Oxidative stress injury is an important pathogenesis of influenza virus in critically ill patients. The present study investigated the efficacy of carnosine, an antioxidant and free radical scavenger, on a model of acute lung injury (ALI) induced by H9N2 swine influenza virus. Female specific-pathogen-free BALB/c mice were randomized into four groups and treated as follows: (1) H9N2 group, (2) mock control group, (3) H9N2+carnosine group and (4) carnosine control group. The H9N2 group mice were inoculated intranasally with A/Swine/Hebei/012/2008/ (H9N2) virus (100 μl) in allantoic fluid (AF), whilst mock-infected animals were intranasally inoculated with non-infectious AF. Carnosine [10 mg (kg body mass)- 1] was administered orally (100 μl) for 7 days consecutively. The survival rate, lung water content, TNF-α and IL-1β levels, lung histopathology, myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, and Toll-like receptor (TLR)-4 levels were determined at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 14 days after inoculation. Carnosine treatment effectively decreased the mortality (43 versus 75 %, P < 0.05), significantly ameliorated pathological lesions in lungs and decreased the lung wet/dry mass ratio (P < 0.05). It also inhibited MPO activity, suppressed TNF-α and IL-1β release, decreased the H9N2 viral titre, and markedly inhibited levels of TLR-4 mRNA and protein in the lungs of infected mice (P < 0.05), which supported the use of carnosine for managing severe influenza cases.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Science College, Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou 075131, Hebei, PR China.
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Science College, Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou 075131, Hebei, PR China.
authors.forename: Cunlian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Science College, Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou 075131, Hebei, PR China.
authors.forename: Ruihua
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Science College, Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou 075131, Hebei, PR China.
authors.forename: Mingju
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Science College, Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou 075131, Hebei, PR China.
authors.forename: Baojian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Science College, Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou 075131, Hebei, PR China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Science College, Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou 075131, Hebei, PR China.
authors.forename: Guohua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Science College, Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou 075131, Hebei, PR China.
authors.forename: Shufei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tian
mesh_terms: D055371:Acute Lung Injury / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002336:Carnosine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D053127:Influenza A Virus, H9N2 Subtype / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009976:Orthomyxoviridae Infections / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D002336:Carnosine