Cytokine
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An exaggerated pro-inflammatory response in endotoxemia may lead to multiple organ damage including acute lung injury. Heat stress prior to endotoxemia results in attenuation of inflammation possibly by decreasing cytokine production. Monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, a pro-inflammatory cytokine, is responsible for monocyte recruitment into the lung in acute lung injury. ⋯ However, the MCP-1 mRNA was higher in the heated compared to non-heated endotoxemic rats (1.59+/-0.35 vs. 0.74+/-0.51, MCP-1/beta-actin mRNA, p <0.01). Control and heat alone rats had undetectable mRNA MCP-1 in the lungs. Heat stress prior to endotoxemia results in decreased production of MCP-1 by a post-transcriptional mechanism.