Abstract:
Objective To investigate the effects of lipopolysaccharide(LPS) on interleukin-10(IL-10), interleukin-6(IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) levels in mice exposed whole body to 6 Gy γ-ray radiation once.
Methods The mice were divided into sham-irradiation group and irradiation group. Mice in sham-irradiation group accepted no irradiation, while mice in irradiation group accepted 6 Gy whole body irradiation at dose rate of 0.8 Gy/min. Mice in LPS treated group accepted intraperitoneal injection of LPS (20 mg/kg)at 10 weeks after irradiation, while mice in control group were accepted intraperitoneal injection of saline. The peripheral blood was collected by eyeballs enucleation after 1 h and 24 h respectively, then IL-10, IL-6 and TNF-α levels were detected by enzyme-linked immunoassay.
Results Compared to control group, the levels of IL-10, IL-6 and TNF-α in blood serum increased at 1 h and 24 h after LPS injection both in sham-irradiation group(t=7.31, P < 0.01; t=2.71, P < 0.05; t=15.09, P < 0.01) and irradiation group(t=4.14, 7.18 and 5.14, all P < 0.01). Compared to sham-irradiation group, the level of IL-10 increased 19.9% at 24 h after LPS injection in irradiation group(t=2.84, P < 0.05), while the levels of TNF-α and IL-6 had no significant differences between sham-irradiation group and irradiation group.
Conclusions The immune system of mice had not entirely recovered at 10 weeks after 6 Gy γ-ray irradiation. After LPS injection, there was difference of anti-infection ability between sham-irradiation group and irradiation group. The effects of LPS on cytokines IL-10, IL-6 and TNF-α levels in radiation-exposed mice need to be further explored.