Pulmonary Cytokine and Chemokine mRNA Levels after Inhalation of Lipopolysaccharide in C57BL/6 Mice

Inhaled endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) can induce acute lung injury and at high doses may lead to respiratory distress syndrome. Using a mouse model of acute lung inflammation induced by inhalation of low doses of LPS we examined the kinetics of chemokine, proinflammatory cytokine, and metallothionein. Eight-week-old C57BL/6 mice were dosed for 10 min with LPS, resulting in an estimated alveolar dose of < 10 ng LPS/mouse, and euthanized 2,6, or 24 h postexposure. Analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid demonstrated increased polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) of 6.94, 32.7, and 38.8% after 2, 6, and 24 h, respectively. Examination of proinflammatory cytokine, chemokine, and Mt mRNA in the lung revealed increases for messages encoding IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-6, IFN-gamma, TNF alpha, Eotaxin, MIP-1 alpha, MIP-1 beta, MIP-2, Mt, and IP-10, while messages encoding IL-12, IL-10, IFN-beta, Ltn, MCP-1, TGF beta 1 + 2, and RANTES were unchanged from those of sham-exposed mice 2 h postexposure. By 6 h most messages had returned to near control levels. Comparison to 5 mg/kg body weight intraperitoneal injection and 5 micrograms/mouse intratracheal instillation 2 h postexposure demonstrated similar message responses. Our results demonstrate that low levels of LPS exposure by inhalation induce a strong PMN response and a selective cytokine response in the lung, supporting the hypothesis that PMNs may regulate inflammatory processes via cytokine and chemokine response.