Proliferation of airway epithelium after ozone exposure: effect of apocynin and dexamethasone

Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1998 Mar;157(3 Pt 1):970-7. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.157.3.9704067.

Abstract

Ozone is an environmental pollutant with potent oxidizing properties. We investigated whether exposure to ozone-induced cell proliferation in the lungs of rats, and determined the effect of an antioxidant and of a glucocorticosteroid in Brown-Norway (BN) rats. Following single ozone exposure (0.5, 1.0, or 3.0 ppm for 6 h), proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression, as determined with immunohistochemistry, was significantly increased in the bronchial epithelium and alveolar epithelium as compared with controls exposed to filtered air with a maximal effect at 24 to 48 h (p < 0.001). Apocynin (5 mg/kg, orally), a reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase inhibitor, reduced the PCNA index in bronchial epithelium induced by ozone (3 ppm, 6 h) from 11.5 +/- 1.3% (percent of nuclear cells expressing PCNA) to 4.4 +/- 1.3% (mean +/- SEM; p < 0.05). Dexamethasone (3 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) also reduced the PCNA index in bronchial epithelium, from 19.2 +/- 2.3% to 10.9 +/- 2.6% (p < 0.05). Dexamethasone but not apocynin inhibited ozone-induced neutrophil influx. Rats exposed repeatedly to ozone (3.0 ppm, 3 h, on three occasions 48 h apart) expressed a lower PCNA index in bronchial epithelium than did rats exposed only once at 1.9 +/- 0.7% versus 6.0 +/- 0.9%, respectively (p < 0.05). The proliferative epithelial response following a single exposure to ozone is modulated through oxidative and inflammatory mechanisms probably involving neutrophils.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acetophenones / administration & dosage
  • Acetophenones / pharmacology*
  • Administration, Oral
  • Air Pollutants / adverse effects*
  • Animals
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents / administration & dosage
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents / pharmacology*
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / administration & dosage
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / pharmacology*
  • Antioxidants / administration & dosage
  • Antioxidants / pharmacology*
  • Bronchi / drug effects
  • Bronchi / pathology
  • Cell Division / drug effects
  • Chemotaxis, Leukocyte / drug effects
  • Dexamethasone / administration & dosage
  • Dexamethasone / pharmacology*
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / administration & dosage
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Epithelium / drug effects
  • Epithelium / pathology
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Glucocorticoids / administration & dosage
  • Glucocorticoids / pharmacology*
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Inflammation
  • Injections, Intraperitoneal
  • Lung / drug effects*
  • Lung / pathology
  • Male
  • NADP / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Neutrophils / drug effects
  • Oxidants, Photochemical / adverse effects*
  • Oxidation-Reduction
  • Ozone / adverse effects*
  • Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen / analysis
  • Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen / genetics
  • Pulmonary Alveoli / drug effects
  • Pulmonary Alveoli / pathology
  • Rats
  • Rats, Inbred BN
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Acetophenones
  • Air Pollutants
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal
  • Antioxidants
  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Glucocorticoids
  • Oxidants, Photochemical
  • Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen
  • NADP
  • Ozone
  • Dexamethasone
  • acetovanillone