Pharmacol Rep
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Clinical trials with partial liquid ventilation demonstrate improvement in oxygenation, as well as some adverse side effects linked to the application of liquid perfluorocarbons (PFCs) during liquid ventilation. Thus, we examined the effects of systemic administration of PFC on acute lung injury (ALI) induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and its effects on heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), a compound that provides potent cytoprotection against lung injury. Rats were assigned to one of six groups (n = 8). ⋯ Furthermore, perfluorohexane increased HO-1 protein production and stimulated HO-1 activity in the lung tissue. Pre-treatment with Zinc protoporphyrin IX, an inhibitor of HO-1, decreased the protective effects of perfluorohexane in rats. In summary, systemic perfluorohexane alleviates LPS-induced lung injury in rats, and HO-1 may be involved in the mechanism of this reduction.
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Case Reports
Local pulmonary opioid network in patients with lung cancer: a putative modulator of respiratory function.
Recently, there has been growing interest in the opioid regulation of physiological respiratory function. However, evidence for a local opioid network that includes endogenous opioid peptides and their receptors is scarce. Tissue samples from patients with lung cancer were examined by immunohistochemistry to identify the components of the opioid network: beta-endorphin (END); its precursor, proopiomelanocortin (POMC); the key processing enzymes prohormone convertase 1 and 2; carboxypeptidase E; and END's corresponding opioid receptor, the mu-opioid receptor (MOR). ⋯ Furthermore, nebulized morphine improved pulmonary function parameters in advanced lung cancer. These findings provide evidence of a local opioid network in functionally important anatomical structures of the respiratory system; this network consists of all the machinery required for POMC processing into active peptides, such as END, and contains the receptors for END. Our findings indicate a need for further clinical trials to elucidate the modulatory function of peripheral endogenous opioids in the human lung.