Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care Medicine & Emergency Medicine Center, Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, Hubei Province, People's Republic of China.
Inflammation. 2013 Dec;36(6):1567-75. doi: 10.1007/s10753-013-9701-4.
Electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve may have positive effects on many inflammatory diseases. This study determined the beneficial effects of vagus nerve stimulation and the mechanisms by which it attenuates lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury (ALI). Rats were intraperitoneally injected with 10 mg/kg LPS to induce ALI. The results showed that vagus nerve stimulation could improve lung injury, as evidenced by remarkable reductions in lung edema (wet-to-dry weight ratio), neutrophil infiltration (myeloperoxidase activity), and pulmonary permeability [total number of cells and protein concentrations in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF)]. In addition, vagus nerve stimulation not only decreased the expressions of Src-suppressed C kinase substrate and E-selectin proteins in lung tissue but also effectively attenuated the concentrations of the proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, and interleukin-6 in BALF. These suggest that vagus nerve stimulation is a suitable treatment for LPS-induced ALI and indicate that it helps ameliorate pulmonary microvascular endothelial cell injury by downregulating inflammatory responses.
电刺激迷走神经可能对许多炎症性疾病有积极影响。本研究旨在确定迷走神经刺激的有益作用及其减轻脂多糖（LPS）诱导的急性肺损伤（ALI）的机制。通过腹腔内注射 10mg/kg LPS 诱导 ALI 大鼠模型。结果表明，迷走神经刺激可改善肺损伤，肺水肿（湿重/干重比）、中性粒细胞浸润（髓过氧化物酶活性）和肺通透性[支气管肺泡灌洗液（BALF）中的总细胞数和蛋白浓度]明显降低。此外，迷走神经刺激不仅降低了肺组织中Src 抑制 C 激酶底物和 E-选择素蛋白的表达，而且还有效减轻了 BALF 中促炎细胞因子肿瘤坏死因子-α、白细胞介素-1β和白细胞介素-6 的浓度。这些表明迷走神经刺激是 LPS 诱导的 ALI 的一种合适治疗方法，并表明它通过下调炎症反应有助于改善肺微血管内皮细胞损伤。
