Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5850063 | Food and Chemical Toxicology | 2014 | 8 Pages |
Abstract
Paraquat (PQ) is a widely used herbicide, and lung is the primary target of PQ poisoning. Metallothionein (MT) is a potent antioxidant and free radical scavenger, and has been shown to play a protective role in lung injury induced by different stressors. This study was undertaken to evaluate the protective potential of MT against PQ-induced acute lung injury using MT-I/II null (MTâ/â) mice. Wild-type (MT+/+) mice and MTâ/â mice were given one intragastric administration of 50Â mg/kg PQ for 24Â h, and it was revealed that MTâ/â mice were more susceptible to PQ-induced acute lung injury than MT+/+ mice evidenced by the following findings. As compared with MT+/+ mice, MTâ/â mice presented more severe histopathological lesions in the lung, higher pulmonary malondialdehyde content, and more reduced pulmonary antioxidative enzymes activities. PQ also induced more apoptosis in pneumocytes from MTâ/â mice, and the expressions of apoptosis-related proteins Bax, Bcl-2, cleaved-caspase-3, and the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 were all more significantly increased in PQ-treated MTâ/â mice. Our results clearly demonstrate that endogenous MT can attenuate PQ-induced acute lung injury, possibly through the mechanisms of anti-oxidation and anti-apoptosis.
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Authors
Ming Ren, Yi-Mei Wang, Jing Zhao, Jun Zhao, Zeng-Ming Zhao, Ting-Fen Zhang, Jun He, Shu-Ping Ren, Shuang-Qing Peng,