The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of preconditioning of physiological cyclic stretch (CS) on the overexpression of early pro-inflammatory cytokines [including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-8] during the inflammatory response induced by pathologically mechanical stretch in lung epithelial cells, and to determine its molecular mechanism of action. Cells were subjected to 5% CS for various durations (0, 15, 30, 60 and 120 min) prior to 6 h treatment with pathological 20% CS. In a separate experiment, cells were preconditioned with physiological 5% CS or incubated with a nuclear factor (NF)-κB inhibitor, pyrroldine dithiocarbamate (PDTC). The expression levels of inflammatory mediators were measured using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction. NF-κB was quantified using western blot analysis. Preconditioning with physiological 5% CS for 30, 60 and 120 min was demonstrated to significantly attenuate the release of pathologically mechanical stretch-induced early pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-8) in alveolar epithelial cells (P<0.05) and significantly reduce the expression of NF-κB (P<0.05). Peak suppression was observed in cells preconditioned for 60 min. In the second set of experiments, it was demonstrated that mechanical stretch-induced release of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-8 was significantly inhibited by both PDTC pretreatment and 5% CS pretreatment alone (all P<0.05). Furthermore, significant inhibition was also observed when both 5% CS pretreatment and PDTC pretreatment was used on mechanical stretch-induced cells (P<0.05), which was markedly greater than the inhibition induced by either pretreatment alone. The present findings suggest that preconditioning with physiological 5% CS is able to inhibit the inflammatory response induced by pathologically mechanical stretch in alveolar epithelial cells. These anti-inflammatory effects are induced, at least in part, by suppressing the NF-κB signaling pathway.
Keywords: cyclic stretch; inflammatory response; nuclear factor-κB; preconditioning.