Perfluorocarbon restrains inflammation and cell apoptosis in rats with lung ischemia reperfusion injury via down regulation of TLR4/NF κB signaling pathway

Abstract

Purpose: To exaluate the effect of perfluorocarbon on lung ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats, and to unravel the potential underlying mechanism.Methods: A total of 36 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly assigned to sham group, model group, and perfluorocarbon group (12 rats per group). The levels of inflammatory factors (TNF-α and IL1β) were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Cell apoptosis was evaluated by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay, while Western blotting was conducted to determine the protein expressions of TLR4 and NF-κB.Results: The levels of inflammatory factors in the model and perfluorocarbon groups were significantly higher than those in operation group (p < 0.05), while their levels in perfluorocarbon group were significantly lower than in model group (p < 0.05). The mRNA expression levels of TNF-α and IL-1β in lung tissues rose significantly in both model and perfluorocarbon groups when compared with those in sham group (p < 0.05), but declined significantly in the perfluorocarbon group in comparison with those in model group (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the perfluorocarbon group exhibited a significantly lower cell apoptosis than model group (p < 0.05). The relative protein expression levels of TLR4 and NF-κBdeclined significantly in perfluorocarbon group than in model group.Conclusions: Perfluorocarbon down-regulates the TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway, and inhibits inflammation an