ORIGINAL PAPER
Subcutaneous administration
of infliximab-attenuated
silica-induced lung fibrosis
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1
Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China
(Department of Respiratory Medicine)
2
Qingdao Central Hospital, Qingdao, China
(Department of Occupational Disease)
3
Qingdao Central Hospital, Qingdao, China
(Department of Clinical Laboratory)
4
Qingdao Blood Center, Qingdao, China
(Department of Clinical Laboratory)
Online publication date: 2017-11-21
Corresponding author
Jian Guo
Qingdao Central Hospital, Department of Clinical Laboratory, 127 Siliu Nan Road, Qingdao 260042, China
Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2018;31(4):503-15
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ABSTRACT
Objectives: To investigate the influence of the anti-tumor necrosis factor-α infliximab (IFX) in the case of rats with silicosis. Material and Methods: Forty-eight Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups. The study group (N = 16) – silicosis
was induced by intratracheal instillation of 50 mg silica on day 1, and IFX was subcutaneously administered at a dose
of 15 mg/kg of body weight from day 2 to day 6, the vehicle group (N = 16) – silica used as the study group but without IFX,
the sham group (N = 16) – 1 ml of saline was intratracheal-used. Eight rats in each group were euthanized on day 7 and on
day 14, respectively. Lung tissue sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin or Masson’s trichromedye. The nuclear
factor-κB p65 (NF-κB p65) positioning in the lung tissues were determined by immunohistochemical staining. Levels of tumor
necrosis factor α (TNF-α) in rat serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were measured with enzyme linked immunosorbent
assay. The inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) mRNA in the lung tissues was measured by quantitative real-time
polymerase chain reaction, as well as inhibitor protein-κB (I-κB) and NF-κB p65 expression were measured quantitatively
by western blotting. Results: Silica installation increased the lung tissues inflammation reaction, oxidative stress and pulmonary
fibrosis. Infliximab treatment significantly improved silica-induced lung pathological changes (inflammatory cells,
collagen deposition), decreased the TNF-α inhibited NF-κB signaling (I-κB, NF-κB p65) as well as oxidant status (iNOS). Conclusions: Infliximab may improve silica-induced pulmonary inflammation by decreasing the TNF-α, inhibiting NF-κB
signaling (I-κB, NF-κB p65) as well as oxidant status (iNOS), which suggest that IFX has potential role in the treatment of
silica-induced lung damage. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2018;31(4):503–515