High-frequency oscillation (HFO) prevents activation of NF-kappaB found with conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV) in surfactant-depleted rabbit lung.

High-frequency oscillation (HFO) has been recognized as an effective ventilatory strategy to minimize lung injury during respiratory support. Conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV) compared with HFO was shown to result in an increased number of PMNs and inflammatory cytokines in the lung lavage fluid. However how mechanical forces can be sensed by cells and converted into biochemical signals for intracellular signal transduction is still unknown. In this current study, we sought to determine whether the activation of Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) might be involved in the lung injury caused by CMV. Surfactant-depleted Japanese white rabbits received 1- or 4-hr CMV or 1- or 4-hr HFO. Then, activation of NF-kappaB in the lungs was assessed by conducting electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA). In the experiment with whole lungs, NF-kappaB activity was much higher in the 4-hr CMV lungs than in the 4-hr HFO lungs. To clarify the origin of the cells in which NF-kappaB was activated, we did a second lung lavage at the end of ventilation and washed out the cells that had infiltrated the alveoli. The levels of NF-kappaB activity were the similar in the lungs of 4-hr HFO rabbits and in those of 4-hr CMV ones. On the other hand, NF-kappaB activity was much higher in the 4-hr CMV lungs than in the 4-hr HFO lungs in the experiment with the lung lavage fluid cells. These results show that the increase in NF-kappaB activity in the lungs of 4-hr CMV rabbits was due mainly to the cells that had infiltrated the alveoli.