The Journal of immunology : official journal of the American Association of Immunologists
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Preprotachykinin-A (PPT-A) gene products substance P and neurokinin-A have been shown to play an important role in neurogenic inflammation. To investigate the role of PPT-A gene products in lung injury in sepsis, polymicrobial sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture in PPT-A gene-deficient mice (PPT-A(-/-)) and the wild-type control mice (PPT-A(+/+)). ⋯ PPT-A(-/-) mice also had significantly attenuated inflammation and damage in the lungs. The data suggest that deletion of the PPT-A gene may have contributed to the disruption in recruitment of inflammatory cells resulting in protection against tissue damage, as in these mice the sepsis-associated increase in chemokine levels is significantly attenuated.