Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) leads to the acute lung injury (ALI), a form of diffused alveolars injury, accompanied by severe inflammation and oxidative damage of alveolar epithelial cells. α-Tocopherol (α-TOH), one of the eight isoforms of vitamin E, is a natural antioxidant-free radical. We aimed to understand the effect of α-TOH and mechanism involved in inducing the ALI. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is injected into the trachea of mice to generate ALI mouse models. α-TOH was used to administrate the mice intragastrically to detect the expression of inflammatory factors and antioxidant molecules by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, hematoxylin-eosin staining and immunohistochemical staining. Mouse alveolar epithelial cell line (MLE-12 cells) was used to determine the effect of α-TOH on alveolar epithelial cells. Inflammatory factors such as, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α shows significant increase in the lung tissues of the mice induced by LPS and reduction in the expressions of superoxide dismutase (SOD)1/2 and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px). After treatment with α-TOH, the inflammation and oxidative stress levels shows substantial reduction in the lung tissues of the mice. Moreover, α-TOH also increases the proliferation ability of MLE-12 cells in vitro and reduces apoptosis level. In addition, α-TOH reduces p65 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation in alveolar epithelial cells in vivo and in vitro, thus, inhibiting the activity of the nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) signaling pathway. α-TOH reduces the inflammation and oxidative stress of lung tissue by inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway, thereby alleviating the LPS-induced ALI.
Keywords: NF-κB signaling pathway; acute lung injury; α -tocopherol.