The anti-apoptotic effect of hydrogen sulfide attenuates injuries to the medullary respiratory centers of neonatal rats subjected to in utero cigarette smoke exposure

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• 作者：Lihong Nie ; Yajie Hu ; Xiang Yan ; Mingqiang Li ; Li Chen ; Hui Li ; Xianke Li ; Hua Zhou ; Yu Zheng
• 关键词：Hydrogen sulfide ; Cigarette smoke ; Tobacco ; Apoptosis ; Medullary respiratory center ; Neonatal rat
• 刊名：Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology
• 出版年：2013
• 出版时间：1 August, 2013
• 年：2013
• 卷：188
• 期：1
• 页码：29-38
• 全文大小：3726 K

文摘

H₂S may serve as an important neuroprotectant. The present experiments were performed to determine whether H₂S could attenuate the injuries sustained by the medullary respiratory centers of neonatal rats that were subjected to cigarette smoke exposure (CS) in utero. Pregnant SD rats were divided into 4 exposure groups: control, CS, CS + NaHS (donor of H₂S) and NaHS. Hypoxia decreased the burst frequencies of the hypoglossal rootlets of the medullary slices in CS neonatal rats, and NaHS offset the hypoxia-induced respiratory suppression. Nissl staining indicated that NaHS alleviated the injuries that were sustained by neurons after CS in utero. NaHS also decreased the number of TUNEL-positive neurons and the expression of activated caspase-3 protein in the medulla oblongata of CS neonatal rats. Furthermore, NaHS promoted Bcl-2 protein expression and reduced Bax protein and mRNA expression in the medulla oblongata of CS neonatal rats. Therefore, the present study indicates that the anti-apoptotic effect of H₂S protects rat medullary respiratory centers from injuries that would otherwise be sustained from in utero CS exposure.