Nuclear Science and Techniques

Abstract:

Radiation-induced lung injury is one of the main dose limiting factors for thoracic radiation therapy. Gelsolin (GSN) is a widespread, multifunctional regulator of cellular structure and metabolism. In this work, the roles of GSN in radiation-induced lung injury in Balb/c mice were studied. The GSN levels in plasma reduced progressively in 72 hours after irradiation, and then increased gradually. GSN contents in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid increased slightly after thoracic irradiation, whereas mRNA levels of GSN in the lung tissue decreased significantly within 24 hour after irradiation and then increased again. Mice were intravenously injected with 50 μg GSN antibody 0.5 hour before 20 Gy of thoracic irradiation. GSN antibody pretreatment increased lung inflammation, protein concentration in the BAL fluid and leukocytes infiltration in the irradiated mice. The activities of superoxidase dismutase (SOD) in the plasma and the BAL fluid in irradiated mice injected with GSN antibody were less than that of control groups, whereas the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) ncreased. The results suggest that pretreatment of GSN antibody may aggravate radiation-induced pneumonitis.

Key words: GSN, Thoracic radiation, Lung injury, Acute pulmonary inflammation, Antioxidant ability