| First Author | Almolki A | Year | 2008 |
| Journal | Am J Pathol | Volume | 173 |
| Issue | 4 | Pages | 981-92 |
| PubMed ID | 18787101 | Mgi Jnum | J:139654 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3809334 | Doi | 10.2353/ajpath.2008.070863 |
| Citation | Almolki A, et al. (2008) Heme oxygenase-1 prevents airway mucus hypersecretion induced by cigarette smoke in rodents and humans. Am J Pathol 173(4):981-92 |
| abstractText | We investigated the role of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), a powerful anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant enzyme, in modulating cigarette smoke (CS)-induced mucus secretion. In both rats and mice, 5-day CS exposure increased HO-1 expression and activity, mucus secretion, MUCIN 5AC (MUC5AC) gene and protein expression, and local inflammation, along with up-regulation of dual oxidase 1 gene expression and both the activity and phosphorylation of the epidermal growth factor receptor, which is involved in MUC5AC induction. Pharmacological induction of HO-1 prevented these actions and inhibition of HO-1 expression by a specific siRNA potentiated them. In French participants to the European Community Respiratory Health Survey II (n = 210, 30 to 53 years of age, 50% males) exposed to CS, a significant increase in the percentage of participants with chronic sputum was observed in those harboring at least one allele with a long (GT)(n) in the HO-1 promoter gene (>33 repeats), which is associated with a low level of HO-1 protein expression, compared with those with a short number of (GT)n repeats (21.7% versus 8.6%, P = 0.047). No such results were observed in those who had never smoked (n = 297). We conclude that HO-1 has a significant protective effect against airway mucus hypersecretion in animals and humans exposed to CS. |
