Effect of subchronic inhalation of ethylbenzene on expression of heme oxygenase-1 in rat renal tissues / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of ethylbenzene on the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) intrarenal tissues.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly and equally allocated to control group, low-dose exposure group, moderate-dose exposure group, and high-dose exposure group to inhale different doses of ethylbenzene (0, 433.5 mg/m(3) (100 ppm), 4335.0 mg/m(3) (1000 ppm), and 6500.0 mg/m(3) (1500 ppm)) for 6 h per day, 5 days per week, for 13 weeks. After the rat model of subchronic ethylbenzene exposure was established, the activities of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) in renal tissues were measured, and the mRNA and protein expression levels of HO-1 in renal tissues were measured by real-time PCR and Western blot.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the control group, all exposure groups showed significantly decreased activities of GSH-Px and CAT in renal tissues and the moderate- and high-dose exposure groups showed significantly decreased activity of SOD in renal tissues (P < 0.05). All exposure groups showed significantly higher expression of HO-1 than the control group (P < 0.05). The high-dose exposure group showed significantly higher expression of HO-1 than the low- and moderate-dose exposure group (P < 0.05), and the moderate- and high-dose exposure group had significantly higher expression of HO-1 than the control group and low-dose exposure group (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>A certain dose of ethylbenzene can induce elevated expression of HO-1 and decreased antioxidant levels in rat renal tissues, thus leading to oxidative stress damage.</p>