First Author | Su X | Year | 2010 |
Journal | J Immunol | Volume | 184 |
Issue | 1 | Pages | 401-10 |
PubMed ID | 19949071 | Mgi Jnum | J:159042 |
Mgi Id | MGI:4441101 | Doi | 10.4049/jimmunol.0901808 |
Citation | Su X, et al. (2010) Requisite role of the cholinergic alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor pathway in suppressing Gram-negative sepsis-induced acute lung inflammatory injury. J Immunol 184(1):401-10 |
abstractText | Although activation of the alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (alpha7 nAChR) modulates the response to sepsis, the role of this pathway in the development of sepsis-induced acute lung injury (ALI) is not known. In this study, we addressed the contribution of alpha7 nAChR in mediating endotoxin- and live Escherichia coli-induced ALI in mice. Because we found that alpha7 nAChR(+) alveolar macrophages and neutrophils were present in bronchoalveolar lavage and injured lungs of mice, we tested whether acetylcholine released by lung vagal innervation stimulated these effector cells and thereby down-regulated proinflammatory chemokine/cytokine generation. Administration of alpha7 nAChR agonists reduced bronchoalveolar lavage MIP-2 production and transalveolar neutrophil migration and reduced mortality in E. coli pneumonia mice, whereas vagal denervation increased MIP-2 production and airway neutrophil accumulation and increased mortality. In addition, alpha7 nAChR(-/-) mice developed severe lung injury and had higher mortality compared with alpha7 nAChR(+/+) mice. The immunomodulatory cholinergic alpha7 nAChR pathway of alveolar macrophages and neutrophils blocked LPS- and E. coli-induced ALI by reducing chemokine production and transalveolar neutrophil migration, suggesting that activation of alpha7 nAChR may be a promising strategy for treatment of sepsis-induced ALI. |