Beneficial effects of ApoA-I on LPS-induced acute lung injury and endotoxemia in mice

High density lipoprotein (HDL) binds lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and neutralizes its toxicity. The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of Apolipoprotein (ApoA-I), the major apolipoprotein of HDL, on LPS-induced acute lung injury (ALI) and endotoxemia. BALB/c mice were challenged with LPS, followed by ApoA-I or saline administration for 24 h. The mice were then sacrificed and histopathological analysis of the lung was performed. We found that ApoA-I could attenuate LPS-induced acute lung injury and inflammation. To investigate the mechanisms, we measured tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in the serum and bronchoalverolar lavage (BAL) fluid and found that ApoA-I could significantly inhibit LPS-induced increases in the IL-1β and TNF-α levels in serum (P < 0.05, respectively), as well as in the IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6 levels in BAL fluid (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, P < 0.05, respectively). Moreover, we evaluated the effect of ApoA-I on the mortality of L-929 cells which were attacked by LPS-activated peritoneal macrophages. We found that ApoA-I could significantly inhibit the LPS-induced cell death in a dose-dependent fashion. Furthermore, we investigated in vivo the effects of ApoA-I on the mortality rate and survival time after LPS administration and found that ApoA-I significantly decreased the mortality (P < 0.05) and increased the survival time (P < 0.05). In summary, the results suggest that ApoA-I could effectively protect against LPS-induced endotoxemia and acute lung damage. The mechanism might be related to inhibition of inflammatory cytokine release from macrophages.